The Flames of Time
by Lordoftheghostking28
Summary: This power I possess...it's amazing. But how I got it was truely terrifying. I thought more than once I would never escape...
1. Chapter 1

Looking up at the serene cloud barrier, it's hard to imagine anything bad in this world. But looking left or right will prove how wrong you were.

The Flames had nearly destroyed the city I had been born into. Only a few spots of land were untouched by the fire…but nothing could grow there because of the heat. Our food was imported from other parts of the world; where they still had enough land to farm. They were where water was. I had never seen the ocean or even a lake. The heat had evaporated them all where I lived.

Another thing I hardly ever got to see was rain. I think in my entire life so far, it had only rained twice. It was only enough to steam up the land for days on end, creating a smog-like substance that made us cough for what seemed like forever.

I really want to see the ocean. Just a glance. I can't believe that so much water can be in one place like they say it is in books, and besides, I don't believe the pictures. I'm one of those see-it-to-believe-it types.

I guess another thing I could add to the list of 'hardly ever/never seen before' would be humans. In the past, they had been co-living with us…but once the Flames began destroying the world, they vanished. I've heard that they've all been killed, but I don't believe a whole race can be wiped out within a few weeks.

My name is Silver, Silver the Hedgehog. I'm seriously underweight, I have bright golden eyes, and I'm the color of the clouds before they turned dark. I have a nice pair of boots, I like bananas and I've never seen the ocean. Many of you might think I'm weird, but that's just how I am, although my kid-ish personality can be explained:

During the day, everything's as fine as it can be. But at night…that's when the nightmares come. The images of the Flames tearing my house apart and killing my family. The Flames haunt me both in the day and at night. I can never escape. I try to make jokes and comments not just for others, but for myself. I can almost stop thinking of the fires because of them.

But then something happened that changed everything.

That night I dreamed of the Flames again. They tore open the ground and rose out of the dirt, burning everything in their path. I saw the smoke through the window, but there was nothing I could do. I screamed for my family to get out of the house, but they couldn't hear me. That was when the ground shook and the house split in-

I was suddenly aware of a trembling in the ground. I jumped out of my bed and ran to the window to see it happening. I darted from my room to my sister's.

"Get up! Get up, Cobalt!"

"Wha…? Silver, what…?" She sat up quickly, startled.

"The Flames are heading this way!" I shouted, darting from the room and pounding on my parent's door.

Cobalt was by my side in an instant. Her golden eyes were wide, scared and determined, probably matching mine. My dad stumbled out of the room, closely followed by my mom.

"The Flames!" I shouted, pointing out the hallway window.

My mom grabbed Cobalt and literally dragged her to the door. My dad more or less pulled me off my feet as he ran. But we didn't make it to the door. Another fierce earthquake shook the land, making my dad lose his balance and stumble into a table. A huge crack grew in the wall closest us and china fell in the kitchen. I tried to pull my dad to his feet but the shaking in the ground was too intense. I fell onto shattered glass, cutting open my arm.

I could hear my mom shouting from outside. I tried to crawl to her, but the shaking grew in intensity and my arm began to bleed heavily. I didn't know what happened to my dad.

Then the Flames came. First in the living room, then the kitchen…and then the dining room, where I was. The heat burned my eyes and the smoke began to choke me. I couldn't see where I was, or what was happening. I thought I heard laughter…evil laughter…

I heard Cobalt scream my name and then her hands wrap around my arm, trying to pull me to my feet. My leg brushed against a piece of burning wood and pain seared in my nerves. Cobalt let go of my arm, shouting something. There was an enormous crack and the roof began to cave in. A piece of burning plaster caught the side of my head and I caught the scent of burning fur. My strength was nearly gone…where was Cobalt? My dad? My mom? I tried to open my eyes only to see an inferno of fire rush at me.

I couldn't be sure, but I probably screamed. I couldn't hear myself over the crackling and burning of the house. I saw a flash of red, and then nothing at all. My hearing seemed to mute itself. The pain everywhere was dulling. I was dying.

And then someone grabbed my arm and lifted me off the burning floor, dragging me out of the house. Cobalt wasn't strong enough to carry me, and my dad couldn't have possibly made it out. But this wasn't my mom either. I just barely made out the words my rescuer said:

"You're going to be fine, all right? Stay with me…I'm going to get you somewhere safe. My name is Blaze…"

** XxXxXxXx**

It had been at least twelve years, but no one really paid any attention to time anymore. It was all about surviving, keeping your family together, looking for something edible. I never really had a probablem with that. Since that day so long ago I had never left Blaze's side. She was like an older sister…_like Cobalt_…watching out for me.

My eyes hadn't healed correctly. The burning had wrecked havoc with the pigmentation in my fur and skin and left black bands around my eyes. I could barely see. Everything near and far was a blur without any variation. I could only make out certain colors. Scars covered my entire body from experiences with the Flames since that day.

I dragged my hand over a wall, trying to find the doorway. I still wasn't used to the near-blind feeling, and sometimes still dreamed in full sight. When I woke up, it was always a terrible shock. I would be back to near-blindness with the Flames still outside.

Blaze had slowly nursed me back to health and then taught me how to get around by myself without my eyes. I knew the area pretty well around her small house, but anything beyond that I couldn't do anything. I had grown a small apple tree in the backyard, using it if we couldn't find food for the day. More than once we had picked it clean.

"Blaze, where are you?" I asked, finally gripping the doorknob and opening the door. "Blaze?"

She didn't answer me. That could mean one of two things; either she was out looking for things to eat or she was still sleeping. After all, it was only about nine in the morning. I had never been able to sleep more than a few hours after what happened to my family. I still had terrifying nightmares that I feared would come true like it had then. I always kept a watch on the fires burning in the distance, but they never seemed to grow closer.

I rubbed my eyes and stumbled into the small room that I guess qualified as the living room. My eyes couldn't see the color of the walls, but Blaze had assured me they were gray, like the sky's clouds during a rainy day before the smoke turned it all charcoal black. A small comfy armchair was pushed in the corner, the color I could see. It was a very light green like some of the still living blades of grass in the backyard. Greens and blues were some of the only colors I could see now. I curled up in the chair, my head on the left armrest. This was where I usually slept because there was a window across from me, so I could see the faint glow of the fires.

My leg ached from earlier in the week when I had fallen in a rather deep ditch. I really hated the world sometimes, but at least I was still alive and not deaf. If I was deaf, then I would probably kill myself because that meant no music. If there was one thing in this destroyed world I could look forward to, it was music.

Well, music, Blaze and food. Because Blaze brings me food. That and she was my only friend. Others don't usually want to hang out with a nearly blind hedgehog.

I sighed, still staring out the window. The fires had been burning in the distance like that since forever. I supposed it was a good thing, as long as no one was in trouble. I must have dozed off at some point because I dreamed I was back at my old house. Cobalt was with me, showing me how to climb onto the roof of the house without falling. I tried to join her, but something was wrapped around my leg. I glanced behind me and saw that a rope of fire had been tightened around my ankle, slowly dragging me into a pit of fire. I screamed for Cobalt to help me, but she just kept saying, "Come on, Silver! You can do it!" Something wrapped around my wrist and I realized it was another rope of fire, although it wasn't hot. I lost my grip on the roof and slid into the fire pit…

"Silver, wake up!"

I jolted myself out of my dream to find Blaze kneeling in front of my chair, her hand wrapped around my wrist to keep me from punching her. I took a deep breath, thankful that it was just a dream.

"What was it this time?" Blaze asked.

"Cobalt," I whispered. "she was trying to teach me how to get onto the roof of the house…but the fire pulled me back into a huge pit."

Blaze let go of my wrist and stood up. "Well, if you're up for it, I found some food."

I shook my head. Dreams of my past usually left me feeling sick, making me unable to eat for a while. I buried my head under a pillow, trying to recover. I heard Blaze leave the room and probably go to the kitchen. The shadow cast by the pillow over my eyes made me drowsy again, and before I knew it…I was back in my dreams.

It was dark; the only light came from the Flames in the distance. My sight was restored to how it had been before that night. I glanced around, but no one seemed to be near me.

"Hello?" I called.

Nothing and no one answered me. I began walking towards a group of trees when a soft voice called to me. I couldn't make out who said it, but I could tell what whoever it was said.

"Help me,"

I spun around, but the only thing I could see was darkness; although I knew where the voice had come from. I ran forward, hoping to see whoever had called. A loud crack caught my attention, but I couldn't turn. I glanced down and saw my feet were buried in darkness, rooting me to the spot. Before I could come up with a plan, a black raven flew down from the sky and attacked my eyes…

I woke up as my back hit the ground hard. Blaze ran into the room shortly after that. "What happened?"

"A-another dream…" I shuddered; the pain had been so real. "You w-were hurt…" Of course it was Blaze, now that I thought about it.

"You're just not having a good day, are you?" she sighed, helping me to my feet. "Come on… isn't it time you checked on your apple tree?"

I found my own way out of the house and to the tree that grew exacally fifteen steps away from the house. Unlike most apple trees, this one had smooth bark and produced darker green apples than usual, which were rich in vitamins. It was about the size of the house now and I could make my way up into its branches without trouble.

I began to climb the first few branches, waving my arm out in front of me to find the next branch. Blaze gave a loud sigh from the ground. "If you get stuck…"

"You're just mad I can out-climb you." I said, finding a smaller branch. I was nearing the top now. "And you're a cat. For shame…"

Blaze gave a soft hiss of annoyance. If there was one thing I could do better than her, it was climbing. It just came naturally to me, like my grandparents had been part squirrel or something. I reached the top branches and found the one that curved over, making a nice chair. I sat back and squinted over the land. There seemed to be more fire, but that was just because I had a better view of the land. I heard and felt Blaze begin climbing up the tree.

"I doubt you can see it, but there's a small shack over there." She said. "I've seen it a few times, but I've never had the time to explore it. Although it is sort of close to the Flames. Want to explore it?"

"…Sure." I had nothing to do. I might as well do _something_…

"Then come on." Blaze began climbing down the trunk. I waited until I felt her let go of the tree before following. It took me longer, but I didn't fall. I just lost my footing and slammed into the thickest branch in the tree.

"AAAGH!" I shouted as my face planted itself firmly in the dirt after that. Actually, I said more of an "ANNNN!"

"I'm almost afraid to take you with me." Blaze sighed, grabbing my arm and pulling me up.

"I'll be fine." I muttered, brushing dirt out of my fur. "Let's go."

"All right. Just follow me." Blaze began to walk towards the edge of the yard. I followed, keeping one hand out in front of me, just in case. I felt like some sort of zombie.

After a few minuets we came to the trees. "All right, we'll just go through here slowly. I'll warn you if there's something on the path." Blaze said.

We did go through the forest rather slowly. It must have taken about half an hour to go a fourth of a mile. I fell so many times I couldn't keep count, and my face seemed to be a magnet for tree branches. Every twenty seconds…_slap_...I swear!

"Can you see it, Silver?" Blaze asked after what seemed like forever. "It's darker than the trees."

I could barely make out a dark blob of _something_, that was for sure. It looked like anything but a shack. I followed Blaze to the door.

"It looks as though it's been burned," She said after a few seconds. "everything in here is covered with ashes. Oh, look…how sad…"

She pressed something into my palm. I ran my fingers over it, eventually deciding that it was a ball with a stick attacked to it, colored a bright green. It made a rattling noise when I moved it. "A…baby's rattle?" I asked at last.

Blaze didn't answer. Instead, she entered the house and began looking through the ashes. I turned my attention back on the rattle. It was small, barely bigger than my hand.

A newborn's.

Blaze came back, holding a few things that were stained black. She handed me something square; the middle was scraped out.

"Picture frame?" I asked.

"Now just a frame. The photo's been burned." She took the frame and the rattle from me and gave me something else.

It was small, flat, circular and metallic. I couldn't think of anything this could be used for. "What's this?"

"I think it's money." Blaze said, taking the metal thing from me. "We could use it to buy food."

The last thing was rectangular, about six or seven inches thick, and slightly bendable. But I could take one side of the rectangle and open it, presenting its insides, which were stained back from the smoke. I flipped back and fourth between the paper-thin things a few times, creating a nice breeze from it.

"That's a book." Blaze said at last. "There's two more in there, but this one was in the best shape."

"What do you do with it?" I asked, continuing to flip back and fourth.

"You read it." Blaze said, taking the book from me. "I'll read it to you later, if you want. You need to be able to see to do this."

I barely remembered my mother telling me about 'books'. She said that they had nearly all been destroyed from the flames, because their pages were made of paper, and paper burns easily. She had one book in her possession, one protected by a metal binding. More than once I've caught her reading from it.

"What's it called?" I asked.

I head Blaze drag her hand over the book's cover, wiping away the ash. She paused for a second and then said, " 'The Flames of Time.'"

I just nodded. I wondered if enclosed in that binding was someone's story of how the Flames had destroyed their life, as they had done to mine. I wondered if the author was still alive.

I reached out and found the side of the shack. I felt my way along the wall until I came to the door. I entered the house and the light dimmed dramatically. The smell of smoke was unmistakable. I kept my arms out in front of me, making sure I didn't run into anything. I found the opposite wall and followed it until my foot hit a loose board in the floor. I nudged it and it popped up with a loud creak. Blaze gasped slightly and said, "Silver, there's another book in there."

She moved the floorboard out of the way and picked up the book. This one was bright blue and not black from the smoke, like the other books. It had been protected from the fires. Blaze opened the cover and said, "I think this is the only intact book in the entire world."

"What's that one called?" I asked, reaching out and touching the binding. It was slightly fuzzy, like a soft leather.

" 'Soul.'" Blaze said. "Looks like some sort of action adventure novel."

I continued feeling along the walls, eventually coming to a corner and turning. I stepped into a room near the back and thought I heard someone talking. But as soon as I tried to make out the words, whoever it was stopped. I stood in silence for a while, trying to hear anything else.

"Silver, are you ready to go back?" Blaze asked from the other room.

"Do you hear anything?" I asked, suddenly nervous. My nearly blind eyes searched the room, looking for any movement.

"Just you." Blaze said, coming up behind me. She fell silent.

"What's wrong?"

"In the corner there…there's a pile of burnt wood. I think that used to be a baby crib." She whispered.

I crossed the room and ran my hands over the darkened and broken wood. It curved sort of into a semicircle before it splintered off. A few beams lay nearby, some connected to each other, some just broken off and charred. I even found a few scraps of blanket fabric.

"Maybe they got out." I said at last. "Maybe they escaped before what happened to my family happened to them."

"That is a possibility." Blaze sighed. "The bookshelf seemed as though it was picked over, and there should have been a lot more pots and pans in the kitchen."

I got up and made my way back to the doorway. "Let's go. I keep thinking of my family."

"I don't blame you." Blaze said, gently guiding me around a pile of some sort of debris.

We exited the shack, and Blaze gathered up the intact items she had found. I glanced worriedly towards the Flames behind the house, but it seemed as though it wouldn't be moving anytime soon.

We made it back to the house after an hour or so. Blaze gave me the picture frame, the rattle and the coin to wash off while she tried to brush more ash out of The Flames of Time. The only thing that didn't need cleaning was the other book.

After cleaning most of the ash off of the items, Blaze took the two books into the living room and sat me down on the couch. "Which one first?" She asked.

"The Flames of Time," I said almost instantly.

I head Blaze pick it up and begin leafing through the first few pages, finding the beginning of the story. She paused for a second before saying, "Silver…this isn't exacally a book. It's more like someone's diary."

"What's it say?" I asked.

" 'March 2, 2989,'" Blaze began. "That's about…twenty years ago. When the Flames first came."

"Keep going." I said.

" 'It started as an earthquake. But it quickly grew, splitting open the earth and spreading the Flames over the world. My neighborhood was destroyed. My friends were killed. The only person in the neighborhood that survived beside me was Nick, my best friend. We tried to get away from the fires. We tried to escape the horrors. We tried our best. It lead us here, to the most remote place on the planet. We built a house. Food is scarce. We hope to survive long enough to be rescued.

" 'Signed, Jennifer H.'" Blaze finished the first entry. "Amazing that this had survived for twenty years."

"What else?" I asked.

Blaze continued reading. Jennifer's life was hard after that night, much like mine. Her writing was incredible, though. The detail almost let me see it as though my eyes had never been damaged. Her story was of loss, death, survival, and friendship. She and Nick were a team. They constructed their house by themselves; and made everything inside. They were bent on survival.

And when they both thought that the Flames had died down enough, they welcomed a baby into the world.

" 'Her name is Soul. Her eyes are as blue as the ocean; the color of a pure soul. She looks so much like Nick…like both of us. She loves the world. I wish so much for her. If only the world she had been born into was as pure as she was…so many things are possible.'" Blaze paused for a second. "That other book…Soul…do you think…?"

"Her diary? Maybe." I said, still taken by surprise by Jennifer's writing.

Blaze flipped to the last few pages. "Her last entry." She whispered. " 'The Flames are growing closer again. Nick is getting Soul from her crib…we're getting out of here. Please, whoever finds this diary, return it to…'"

"To who?" I asked.

"It's burnt." Blaze said softly.

I sighed. "Do you think there's any possibility of anyone knowing who Jennifer H. is?"

"Probably not." Blaze admitted, shutting the diary and putting it to the side. She picked up Soul. "Should we read this one too?"

"Might as well."

I heard her open it and read the first page or two. "This is weird…" She said at last.

"What's weird about it?"

"There are numbers written on the sides of the pages…all over them. Chemical formulas and equations. Pictures…it's like some sort of scientist got ahold of this."

"What do the words in the book say? Research, a story, or another diary?" I asked.

"It's a novel." Blaze said. "About supernatural powers. But in the back it's got a list of references twelve pages long. Apparently a lot of research had gone into writing a science fiction-ish book."

"Weird…" I muttered.

"Indeed," Blaze put the book down. "wow, it's already almost five. I'll get us something to eat."

** XxXxXxXx**

I woke up that night, freezing cold even though the world was alight with flames. I couldn't stop thinking of the tiny crib in the shack…or Jennifer's story in the diary. And then the voice in the back of the shack…It was like it was calling me. I had to go back there. Something told me to.

I uncurled from my chair and felt my way to the door. The Flames cast enough light so I wouldn't need a flashlight, but I couldn't see anyway. I felt my way through the yard and through the forest, until the fires brightened as I neared them and the shack. I found the door and entered, feeling my way along the walls to the back.

It was still the same, just darker in the room. I thought I heard whispered voices again.

"Hello?" I whispered back, almost inaudibly.

The whispering immeadentally stopped. I felt fear wash over me and took a few steps back, only to trip in the hiding place of the book Soul. I fell backwards, landing loudly on some charred wood.

I used the wall to pull myself up, and that was when I caught scent of the acidic smell of burning. I glanced towards the door to see a huge dark cloud of it rising over the forest. The Flames were moving again. I moved as quickly as I could to the door to see that a tree had caught, and the fires were spreading up it and to the land.

I could only stare in horror and shock as what looked like a column of fire rose from the Flames. The column split off into two different parts, and those parts slammed into the ground around me. All around was fire. I heard a mighty bellow, like the devil itself was crawling out of the hell. I glanced back up and somehow managed to make out features in the fire. It really did have a form…

A stream of burning pain hit me from the side. I flew backwards, slamming into a tree. Something snapped inside of me, making the agony triple. I slid down the tree and landed hard on my other side. A small, scared sound escaped my throat and I tried to get up, but the pain inside of me was too great. I collapsed back onto my side. I felt my fur burning. Another fiery blast caught me in my stomach, sending me rolling a few feet to the left. I clasped my hand over my wound, feeling blood pour out. The skin around my injury was burned terribly, blisters popping up everywhere. I tried to scream, but my voice had gone. The world was going white. I thought I saw Cobalt, standing in front of a white tree…

There were shouts. Then a hissing sound, like some sort of gas, and the fires melted away. A white figure dropped to their knees and shouted something I couldn't hear. Another figure came, and they tore my hand away from my severe burns. This time I really did scream. My burned flesh had fastened itself on my hand. There was a female voice, shouting at the two at my side…Blaze? Did she come for me?

Another white figure loomed into view, whispering something soothing into my ear. I couldn't make out the words, but I knew from the voice that it wasn't Blaze. I whimpered again from fear and as the pain in my side flared up again. The white figure stuck something sharp in my arm, and the world faded from view.

** XxXxXxXx**

My dreams were some of the worst I've ever had. I dreamed I was being burned alive, watching as Blaze let the Flames burn away my body. She smiled at me evilly and said, "You need to learn."

Then the dream changed and I was holding the diary of Jennifer, but instead of her entries there were just newspaper articles of how the Flames had killed my family…how they had killed her neighborhood…how they killed the world. I dropped the book to the ground, and it turned into fire, burning away the ground beneath my feet and sending me plummeting down to the faint glow of death below…

Then I was in my apple tree, looking over Blaze's backyard. Only instead of the grass and trees, it was all Flames that were slowly spreading up my tree. But before they could reach me, the tree branch I was on broke, sending me to the fires below. The pain was so real…

And then I was somewhere dark. There were no Flames. Just darkness. "Hello?" I called nervously.

Then the Flames erupted from the shadows, burning all but the small patch of darkness I was on. I glanced around, trying to find an escape route, when the smoke condensed and a swirling ball of dark formed.

"Who are you?" I asked it.

"You know me." It said in a cold, cruel voice. "I am Fear."

"What do you want?" I asked, backing up.

"I know what you fear, Silver. There's no escaping the Flames. They will burn forever." Fear said before melting away into darkness again. I didn't dream any more after that.

** XxXxXxXx **

** Wow…I think this is actually pretty ok. Hope you do too. Please review and stuff.**

** And the later chapters will be a bit shorter and better, cuz I'll be really getting into the swing of things here again. I missed writing a good story. All my stuff lately has been really dumb… Anyway, read on, Readers!**


	2. Chapter 2

** CHAPTER 2**

"He's regaining consciousness,"

"I hope someone's got a sedative if it's needed."

"He can't possibly move with wounds that severe."

"But he can try."

I became slowly aware of the voices and sounds around me. I didn't dare open my eyes yet. Whoever was around me might take advantage of my blindness to knock me out again. The last thing I wanted was to sleep. I felt I was on some sort of hard surface, probably a table. I felt something covering my nose and mouth. Bandages were tightly wrapped around my side, but it didn't stop the dull, throbbing pain. There was something taught yet soft keeping my wrists and ankles strapped to the table. This sent a rush of adrenaline through my body, making my heart skip a beat and then thump wildly in my chest. A high pitched beeping noise accompanied my heartbeat. I finally opened my eyes and struggled against the bonds restraining me to the table. A strange type of mask was strapped to my face, and all I knew about it was I wanted it off, and right now. Wires from the strange beeping device behind me covered my entire body. I could feel some sort of liquid flowing into my arm from some blurry device just out of my sight. All this along with my bandaged wounds made my head explode in pain, although the pain drove me to try to escape my bonds.

"Someone get me that sedative!" a male voice called. I felt someone wrap their hands around both my upper arms and attempt to hold me still. A blurry white figure swam into view. I didn't know who this was or what they planned to do to me, but from the situation at hand, it probably wasn't anything good. I thrashed harder against his grip, only succeeding in sending a white hot pain through my body.

"I got it right here." Another figure swam into view. The person holding me down let go of one of my arms to take the drug from the assistant. I started screaming, but my voice was muted by the strange mask.

"No! No! No! Please, no!"

"Just try to relax." The figure whispered. I felt a small stabbing pain in my arm. My will to escape vanished, along with most of my pain. I felt my tense muscles relax and I excepted defeat. Darkness began to take over my vision again.

"What's wrong with its eyes?"

"Is it blind?"

"Not completely." A soft female voice said. Whoever it was gently took my left hand in hers. "Relax. You're safe now. We're just trying to help you."

"D…don't h-hurt me…" I groaned. "Leave Blaze a-alone…"

"I promise we won't hurt Blaze if you rest," The girl said. "Ok?"

I didn't get a chance to reply as darkness completely took over my thoughts and vision.

I sunk into a deep, dreamless sleep; much to my surprise. I didn't know how long I was out, but when I began to wake up again I didn't hear anyone around. In fact, the only sound was the steady beep….beep…beep of the machines behind me. I didn't know what they were for or what they were doing to me. I started pulling at my bonds again, but with weakened strength. The sedative hadn't completely worn off.

"Don't move, you'll just make it worse." The soft voice from earlier said. I hadn't expected someone to be nearby. I stopped struggling immeadentally.

"I imagine you're scared out of your mind right now." The voice continued. Whoever it was had drawn closer to me. "But don't struggle. You'll only make your wounds worse."

I slowly opened my eyes to see a bright light blaring down on me. To my left was the whitewashed figure. "So…what is wrong with your eyes?" she asked.

I didn't answer her. I told myself I never would.

"Can you even see me? Are you just following my voice by hearing it?"

Still no answer.

The girl sighed. "You know, if you wanted us to, we could restore your sight."

I tried to remain emotionless, but my heart gave me away. It sped up excitedly.

"So you can't see... can you?" The girl concluded. "No doubt that contributes to your fear because you can't see us."

I squinted at the roof and then to the other side of me. There was nothing but blank white wall, and a boxy machine. I wondered where exacally I was again, but no places came to mind. I tugged again at my restraints, more out of discomfort than the need to escape.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you off the table until the professor approves it." The girl said. "He's the expert in dealing with injured things."

I turned my eyes back on the girl. Even though I couldn't really see her, I could make out a small smudge of black along her head…hair, maybe? If so…was she _a human_? Excitement and curiosity coursed through my veins.

She came a bit closer. I never took my near-blind eyes off of her. She knelt next to the table, putting her head a bit closer to mine. "Can you see me now?"

I was pretty sure the dark smudge on her head _was_ hair. She _was_ a human! Her skin was a slight gray, but that was because I couldn't make out the tans because of my sight. I couldn't see her eyes, though. They were dark pools that slightly scared me.

I still didn't answer her, even though I was really awed at finally getting to see a human. I thought they were all extinct!

She giggled a little. Apparently I didn't hide the shock on my face well enough. She gently ran her hand through my quills, careful not to dislodge any wires, obviously as fascinated by me as I was of her.

"Your fur is so soft." She said. "It almost feels like velvet."

I didn't know what velvet was, but I guessed it was some sort of human fashion statement. I tried to get a look at her hand as she passed it over my forehead…was her hand blue? It was weird…maybe humans were oddly colored like us too.

"It's a surgical glove. Don't worry, we didn't operate on you. We use them to stop infection." She pulled a part of the blue away from her real skin.

Oh.

She left my side and went to look at the machines behind me. "Well, you're unique to us." She said at last. "Your brainwaves are incredibly strong. We've never had anyone or anything with quite that strength. We had a long argument over you last night."

Last night? I guess I had been out for a while. I strained to look backwards where the girl was standing, but arching my back sent a stab of pain through my wounds. I relaxed slightly as she came back around the table by my side.

"So…who's Blaze?" She asked. "a friend?"

I nodded slowly.

"Don't worry. We're not like the Flame; we only want to help." The girl said. "I'm Dr. Green. I specialize in fire related injuries."

I heard a door open and I followed the sound to the left side of the room. Another whitewashed figure entered the room. "How's he doing?" a masculine voice asked. He sounded older, at least a few years older than Green.

"Better than yesterday." Green responded.

The figure crossed over to the table, pulling on a pair of blue gloves like the ones Green was wearing. "I don't think he needs that oxygen mask anymore,"

"Probably not," Green said. "and besides, it's annoying, isn't it?"

I nodded again. Green reached around the back of my head and unclasped the mask and pulled it off my face. I took a deep breath…and coughed hard. The air in the room stung my throat and lungs, like there was some sort of chemical in the air. Green said to the other figure while I was continuing to choke, "It must be the antibacterial substances we use to keep this place clean. I've been here long enough to learn to ignore it."

I sneezed. After the fifth one, the burning seemed to subside and my eyes stopped watering. I could breathe without coughing, at least. My side throbbed with pain.

"Jeez," the man muttered. He pulled something from what I guess was a pocket. "Now I need you to look straight at the ceiling, all right? I need to get an idea about how badly damaged your eyes are."

I stared up at the ceiling for about a full three seconds before movement caught my eyes. The man was holding something above my head. "Back at the ceiling, please."

My eyes flicked back to the roof. The thing the man was holding emitted a bright, glaring light directly into my left eye. I turned my head to the side and squeezed my eyes shut.

"Sorry, but that's how it works." Green muttered. "Come on, give him thirty seconds and it'll be over."

I shook my head, my eyes still shut tightly. I started pulling at my bonds again, harder than I had earlier. The man sighed. "I've never seen one as terrified as him,"

"Well, maybe if you unstrapped him he'd relax a little." Green protested. "I know I'd be terrified too if I woke up after being attacked by fire, strapped to a table in a strange place that burns when I take a breath, Professor!"

She gently ran her hand over my quills, whispering quietly. I stopped struggling and looked up into her face, trying to make out any detail, no matter how small. Humans were unnerving.

The man that Green had called Professor brought that strange blinding light closer to my eyes again. In defense, I sneezed in his face.

He stumbled back, grumbling about alien viruses and infections. Green simply laughed.

"Fine, put him in one of the observatory rooms," The professor hissed. "I'll deal with him later." And with that, he left, taking his lights with him. Green said excitedly, "You can get out of here now!"

She disconnected me from the machines behind the table and then unstrapped my arms and legs. "Do you think you could walk?"

She helped me into a sitting position and then lowered me to the floor. My left leg nearly gave out underneath me and a intense pain burst in my side. I gritted my teeth and took a few steps, my arms out in front of me. I found the wall and made my way around it to a door. Green was behind me the entire way, which wasn't very far. About five minuets of slowly making our way down a hall and we came to a small door. There were four odd beeping noises and the door opened. I could see green smudges, but other than that nothing at all except the blank gray walls.

"How are you doing?" Green asked, gently guiding me into the room.

I found the wall and made my way along it until my knees hit against something. I moved around it and realized it was a bed, and the softest one I had ever felt. I painfully climbed into it, pulling the blanket over my head as I went. I curled into a small ball on my less injured side and tried to tell myself I was safe.

"If you ever need anything, just make your way back to the door. I'll be there, all right?" Green said. I heard her leave; and the door gave a soft whoosh as it closed.

I became aware of a small buzzing sound coming from the far end of the room. I ignored it and eventually slipped away into a deep sleep.

In my dreams I was back in the other room strapped to the table, pain burning though my entire body. The professor was there, but he just stood in the corner of the room and watched me suffer. I tried to call for Green, but the professor just laughed and said, "Oh, she's gone. She's not coming back." The pain intensified until it felt like someone was stabbing me repeatedly, over and over in the middle of my mind. I finally jolted myself out of sleep, my limbs tied together from the blanket. My side felt like someone took a club and smashed it full force into me. I escaped the blanket and lay on my back, drawing in deep breaths. Even though it dulled the pain of both dream and injury, I couldn't go back to sleep. Not now.

I became aware of the strange buzzing sound again. I glanced to my right, trying to see what was making that noise. But all I could see were dull gray walls and a small smudge of green.

I managed to drag myself out of the bed and find the wall. I followed it around to about where the noise was loudest: some sort of box with a wire mesh coating. I ran my hands over it, feeling a cool breeze emitted by whatever was in the box. I tried to pull the mesh away, but it was locked in place. I must have searched the thing at least two times, trying to figure out a clue to what it was. I eventually gave up and sat on top of it, thinking it was just some sort of noisemaker. But that didn't explain the air. Maybe it was a way out of this place…?

I hoped against hope that was the case. I ran my hands over the mesh again, pulling on it and trying to open it, at least just a little. I couldn't see any light coming from the thing, so it wasn't a direct way to freedom. I doubted I would be able to climb if I had to. I sat down on the cold gray floor, a little discouraged. That was when I realized that the thing was probably an air purifier, recycling the air and putting it back into the room. My heart sank. There goes my chance of escaping. But another question rose in my mind: if this was an air purifier, then where the heck was I? I hadn't seen any Flames since I got to this weird place. Was I underground? No…the Flames rule the underground. I couldn't think of anywhere.

I rubbed my eyes and then stood again, using the wall to make it back to the bed. I was exhausted from just walking around. I curled back up on my more stable side, pulling the blanket up to my bandages. I lay on my side for a while, staring towards the door I had come in. I wondered if it was locked. Probably. Did that mean I was just a prisoner here; in this strange hospital? I wanted more than anything to see Blaze again. Or…at least hear her read to me. I knew I couldn't spend my life here in this cold, gray place.

The door beeped and slid open, judging by the _whoosh_ing noise it made. A white figure crossed the room towards me. I never took my eyes off them as they approached me.

"Don't worry, it's just me." Green assured me. She was carrying something…and it smelled good. "I brought you something to eat. You look like you haven't seen anything decent in years."

She pressed something slightly spongy into my hand. I sniffed it again, taking a small bite when I was sure it wasn't poison. This by far was the best thing I had ever eaten, ever. There were bananas in it! I finished the entire thing in about a minuet.

"That was a banana and peanut butter sandwich." Green said. "I'm glad you like it, because that's the only thing I can make."

I reached out and my fingers brushed her arm. Her skin was soft, but the surprising thing was she didn't have fur like me. The white thing covering her body I _thought_ was fur was really some sort of fabric that probably acted like fur, keeping her warm.

"That's my coat I wear when I work here." Green said. "It keeps my other clothes clean and keeps any type of disease from contaminating anything else."

I reached up toward the patch of dark on her head. She leaned down so I could reach it. It _was_ hair. But it was almost as soft as my fur. Now I was slightly confused on if she had really long fur, or hair. Whatever. Her face was different from mine too. She had smaller eyes and higher cheekbones, and a slightly larger mouth. Her ears were in a different place. She had small patches of more dark colored fur/hair over her eyes.

"I take it you've never seen a human before." Green said after I accidentally grabbed her ear and nearly pulled it off. She rubbed the side of her head for a few seconds. "Well, I've never seen anyone quite like you before either."

"What are you going to do to me here?" I asked. My voice sounded rough from not using it for a while.

"I told you, we're not going to hurt you." Green said. "We're just going to keep you here with us until you fully recover. After that, you can leave and go find your friend Blake, or whatever his name is."

"Her name is Blaze." I said bluntly.

"Well, I know your friend's name before I know yours." Green said. "So what _is_ your name?"

"Silver," I said at last. "Doctor Green, what-?"

"Oh, don't call me that. I like my first name better. I'm Soul. Soul Green."

I completely forgot my question.

**XxXxXxXx**

** Soul is my OC, just making sure you knew that before we moved on.**


	3. Chapter 3

** CHAPTER 3**

The next week passed slowly, and rather painfully. When my side began to throb with pain both day and night, Soul and a few other doctors dragged me into another white, glaring room that smelled of the burning disinfectant. Once there, they X-rayed my chest and finally just cut the bandages away to address the wound themselves. I guess what they found wasn't good, because before I knew it I was surrounded by at least twenty people. Before I could really begin to freak out, someone injected something into my arm and the world went dark.

I awoke to find myself in a soft bed, another oxygen mask strapped to my face and wires streaming from my chest to a large machine beside the bed. My side was re-bandaged and the pain was dulled, but it was still there. Soul eventually came into the room, telling me that my wound had become infected and they needed to operate to cut away the infected areas and skin. She gave me more painkiller and left, leaving me to lie there for a day and a half before coming back to check on me again.

After the rest of the week she came back, finally letting me eat another peanut butter and banana sandwich since I had been living off of fluids in the past week. She re-dressed my side after examining it again, to make sure the infection didn't return. "Now I think you're set to go back to your other room, but I'll check with the professor, just in case."

"Wait, Soul," I said, suddenly. "this might seem weird…but was your mother's name Jennifer?"

Soul didn't say anything for a few seconds. When she seemed to recover from my question, she said, "I think you've been on too much painkiller. I'll lessen your dose…"

"No, it's just…before I came here…Blaze and I entered that little shack back in her woods. There was a diary in there, the diary of Jennifer H.. She married a guy named Nick and had a baby named Soul. Was that you?"

Soul sat down heavily on the foot of my bed. "My mother's maiden name was Jennifer Halff, before she married my father, who was Nick Green. I am their daughter."

"What happened to them?" I asked.

"They died," Soul's voice cracked. "by the Flames. I don't know how or why I survived, but the next thing I knew, I was working here. When I saw you lying outside my old home dying, I had to help. I want to stop these Flames."

"My family died in the fires too." I said. "Blaze saved me."

"It seems like everyone's lost someone they know and love to the fires." Soul sighed. "At least they can't get us here."

"Where exacally is here?" I asked.

"We're in the air." Soul replied. "This facility is propelled by many tiny engines and propellers mounted on the sides. We're safe from the Flames, but every now and then we have to land to find food. This place runs off of smoke."

"That's amazing!" I said in awe.

The door swished open and I recognized the sound of the professor's shoes as he walked into the room. "All right, if you want to get out of here, you've got to work with me." He said gruffly. I obediently lay back and against my will let him poke and prod at my sides. A few times I resisted the urge to curl up into a ball and stay that way. After the professor was satisfied that I was healing correctly, he backed off and muttered, "Get out of here, we have things to do."

Soul helped me up and to the door. From there, I followed the wall back to the other room I had been previously living in. Four beeps sounded, and the door opened. I found my way to the bed and sat on the edge. "Can you stay, Soul?"

"I'm sorry, Silver. I have to play a part in the experiment we're conducting." Soul said from the doorway. Her voice echoed slightly. "But as soon as we're done, I'll come back here."

"Ok," I said, hiding the disappointment in my voice. I had already explored the entire room and I wasn't really looking forward to doing it again. The door slid shut and there was a soft beep as it locked in place.

I gently pressed my hand over my side. The pain was almost completely gone. I figured I had better regain the strength in my legs and got up, following the wall a short distance. After I had taken a few steps I left the wall, heading for the small green smudge in the middle of the room.

It was nothing more than a small radio, but to me it was my only friend in this place when Soul wasn't here. I ran my hand over it until I came to the third button. I pressed it, and soft music filled the room. The only available station was the only station the Flames had not destroyed. It played a variety of different tunes, but that was fine with me. I liked all kinds.

Right now the station was airing a soft rock song, about love. I think I had heard this one before. I sat down on the floor and adjusted the volume slightly until I knew I would be able to hear it across the room. I made my way back to my bed and lay on my stomach, my left arm dangling off the bed and my right under my head. I found myself wondering what Blaze was doing…was she worried about me? I knew I would be worried about her if she suddenly vanished in the middle of the night.

I don't know exacally how many songs I listened to before the door opened with four soft beeps. I excitedly got up and followed the wall to where a white figure was standing. "Soul, what were you working on in there?"

"Nothing of any importance." She sighed. "Actually quite boring."

Something about her tone wasn't right. It sounded like she was…scared? It was hard to tell, but I knew if I could see better I would have been able to read her facial expression. I turned my head to the dark gray smudge of a door. "Why do you lock it?"

"Just for security reasons. We don't want you wondering around here, setting off every intruder alarm, do we? Also it can isolate any diseases, either from you to us or us to you."

"That's not all, is it?" I asked, looking up into her face.

I must have given her the same look I give Blaze if she doesn't tell me directly what's going on. Soul sighed heavily, but didn't say anything for a few seconds. "I'm sure you've noticed you're the only non-human here." She settled on at last.

"I have been wondering about that." I admitted. "Why?"

"Let's sit down." She said. "This could take a while."

I grabbed onto her coat sleeve and followed her to the small bed. She sat down next to me and took a deep breath.

"Well, first of all, we've never seen anyone hurt as badly as you and still survive," She started. "and…we're sort of short on space. In all there's only been one other like you here, and he died from his injuries."

Something wasn't right. Something in the way she said that last statement made me wonder… it was rushed, almost as if Soul was afraid of forgetting what she was going to say before she actually said it. I nodded, trying not to give away my suspicions. Soul nudged my hand, and pressed something into my palm. It was rectangle shaped and about as thick as my pinky finger. There was a small bump in the middle of it, with a short indentation running down whatever it was' back. I slid the bump forward and it moved down the indentation. Something came out the end of it.

"That's a flash-drive. We use them to carry information back and fourth." Soul explained as I began clicking the bump forwards and backwards. "They plug into the computers we use and we can transfer data to or from anywhere in this place."

"Cool!" I continued clicking it.

"I thought you should get to see…er…feel— whatever works for you—a few everyday things we use here. In case you want to stay and help us here."

"I've got to go back to Blaze. She's probably freaking out right now." I held the flash-drive out towards Soul so she could take it. "And she's sort of like my sister."

"I understand." Soul said.

We talked for a while more. Soul wanted to know how we lived on the surface for so long, with all the burning smoke and debris cast into the air from the fires. I figured it was just an adaptation to keep us from suffocating, but she said she'd have to run that theory by with the professor. If there was one thing I learned about that man, it was 'if in doubt, take Silver from his cold, gray room and put him in another cold gray room and ask him a load of questions and/or run tests.' Not very fun.

"So…what was your family like?" Soul asked casually.

"They seemed pretty normal, but that's mainly just because I haven't been around many families. Most of them had been destroyed." I said. "I had a sister too, a real one. Her name was Cobalt and she liked to explore and do very life-threatening things, most of them involving heights and fire. Two of the things I hate most." I shivered. "But we always got along. Although she liked to pick on me because I was younger."

"I've always wanted a sibling." Soul said. "But then once I thought about it, I figured I was better off as I was. I always seemed to do more if I was working by myself."

I nodded. I was the complete opposite, and Blaze was always growling at me to do something independent of her, but then I would counter that I was one step away from blind and she was very lucky she got to see at all. I usually won arguments, partly because Blaze didn't like to argue. I was really starting to miss her right now.

I leaned to the right until I was resting against Soul's arm. "Um…" She stuttered, not exacally sure of what to say. "I…uh…I sometimes I miss my friends that have died here. Most of them were like a family to me. I know how you feel." She pulled me in for a light, reassuring hug, gently smoothing down my quills. Her body began to shake with sobs. But they weren't tears of loss for her family and friends.

"Soul, what's really wrong?" I asked. Her uneasiness worried me. She released me from the hug and leaned back.

"I…I can't tell you." She managed to choke out. "I'm sorry…I just can't."

I became aware of the radio again, in the middle of the room. The song coming from it I had heard once before, but the words stuck with me like I had heard it a million times.

It was so much like the night so long ago where I lost my family…

Soul must have heard the words too. She took a shaky breath and tried to keep her emotions in check. The song was about being lost until finding someone to trust, but then that person was torn out of the singer's life. She never trusted again, only the first time. In many ways this related to my life, however distantly.

"I was told that my mother liked this song," Soul said. "I've always liked it also."

"Maybe it's her way of saying that everything will be all right." I suggested.

"Maybe it is," She agreed. "if so…" she trailed off.

I didn't say anything. I instead waited for her to finish her sentence, but the end never came. Finally Soul stood up and said rather reluctantly, "Sorry Silver, but I should go see if anyone has anything I should be doing for them."

"That's ok." I watched her whitewashed form leave the room. The door slid in place with a small beep, leaving me alone again. I leaned against the cold wall behind my bed and tired to imagine Blaze reading to me from one of the books we found. There was really nothing else I could be doing.


	4. Chapter 4

** XxXxXxXx**

** CHAPTER 4**

A week passed, possibly more. Soul visited me every day, but she usually couldn't stay for long. I looked forward to her visits, both because it was always the highlight of my day and I actually had someone to talk to. My side was nearly completely healed, the rapid mending mostly thanks to a strange chemical they spread on my side every two days. Those were the easy days.

Then Soul and a couple of others took me back to the room I had first woken up in. They tried to get an idea about how much I could actually see, but I'm pretty sure I just confused them. Soul then lead me to a room I had never been in before. She just left me there and the door locked behind me. It took me a good half of an hour to figure out that I was in some sort of maze and had to find my way out. I knew right from the beginning this was next to impossible. When I was younger and still with my family, I had done mazes that Cobalt had set up for me. I learned never to follow the walls, just the path.

I figured I had better try. Twenty minuets later I couldn't find my way out of a dead end and Soul had to drag me out of there. Failed.

The professor put me on a treadmill and told me to run. I had never been a strong runner, and the smoke in the air where I lived just made it worse. In no time at all, I was gasping for breath and my nearly healed side felt like it was being split open again. I ended up falling off the thing, twisting my ankle and putting an end to any more physical tests for the day. Failed.

My reflexes weren't as sharp as the doctors expected. My lungs were clogged with smoke residue from over the years, and they had me inhale a stinging gas to help break it down and turn the smoke to a harmless substance. My hearing was better in my left ear. I was a _failure_.

"Well…you're not a _complete_ failure," Soul said. "your hearing is actually above normal in both ears, but your left is actually formed differently."

"What difference does it make?" I muttered.

Soul still sounded worried. I didn't know what she had on her mind, but it seemed really important. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing, why?" She asked a little too fast for everything to be completely fine.

"You sound worried."

"I always sound worried." She retorted.

"Not this worried," I countered.

"It's nothing, ok?" She sounded a bit annoyed.

The professor's voice came from around a corner. "Are you still here? We have nothing else for you to do."

"Oh, good," I found the wall and started using it as a guide to find the door. "are you coming, Soul? I still want to talk to you."

"I'm coming." She said.

We went back to the small gray room I had learned to call home. She sat on the end of the bed and leaned against the wall. "Can you really tell that I'm that worried?"

"It's not that hard." I replied.

She took a deep breath. "Don't….don't ever let the professor hear that, ok?"

"Hear what?" now I was a bit confused.

"Hear that you have the uncanny ability to sense emotions, even if they're a bit stronger than normal."

"Why?"

"Silver, just don't!" Soul shouted.

I took a few steps back from her. I had never had anyone shout like that; her words were full of hatred. Of me? It was hard to tell.

"Sorry," She whispered. "It's just—"

"Soul you're needed again."

The professor's voice made us both jump. Soul quickly crossed the room to the door and they both left, the door sliding into place and locking with a soft beep. I heard Soul and the professor yelling at each other. What really was going on? I made my way to the door and tried to make out their words.

"You can't do this to him. I don't care if we've made a discovery like this, it's inhuman!" Soul's voice was angry and slightly scared.

"But if we succeed, he would be able to finally see again. Can't you, with all your perfect eyesight, _see_ that?" The professor countered.

"_Don't hurt him_." Soul hissed.

"I'm afraid we have to,"

I had heard enough. Obviously Soul knew about this for a while, but didn't quite know how to handle the situation. I knew I would fight if the professor came near me from this point on. I followed the wall back to my bed and tried to come up with a plan.

What did he mean he could let me see again? I wanted to see more than anything, but the way the professor said what he did…it didn't sound right. I would find a way out of here and escape back to Blaze.

** XxXxXxXx**

I don't know exacally how much time passed, but the door opened and Soul entered the room. "Are you hungry?"

"A little." I said, switching off the radio and making my way over to her.

"I have something a little different this time. This is called pineapple, have you ever had it?" Soul handed me a small bowl.

"Is it like apples?" I asked.

"You'll have to eat it and decide for yourself."

It was _sweet_. Although it burned the inside of my mouth slightly, it was one of the best things I had ever eaten. I devoured the entire bowl in about a minuet, much to Soul's amusement.

"I've never seen anyone eat that much in one sitting." She said.

"Can I have more?" I asked hopefully. "I think I like it better than bananas."

"Maybe later. Come on, I want to show you how to get through the maze so you can astonish people tomorrow." Soul headed for the door, but I stayed where I was.

"What were you and the professor talking about earlier?" I asked nervously.

"Nothing." Soul said. "And don't worry, he won't be coming near you. Not as long as I'm there."

I hesitated a bit more. "Are you sure?"

"I promise," Was it just me, or did her voice just break?

I followed her to the door and cautiously made my way down the hall with her, watching out for any whitewashed figures that seemed like they wanted to bring me down. Soul must have noticed how nervous I was because she said, "Don't worry, they're all off working on something."

I didn't relax. Something was telling me to go back, but my thoughts were telling me to _just keep following Soul; she knows how to keep the professor away_. We came to a door, which she opened. Something was wrong. This wasn't the door we entered into earlier…

"Sedate him."

I jumped backwards as a figure rushed at me. Soul dived out of the way and shouted, "Run, Silver! Just run!"

I turned and nearly ran into the wall. I managed to stumble down the hall, listening to the fight behind me. Apparently Soul was buying me time to try to escape. I threw my hands out in front of me and sort of speed-walked down the hall, careful not to run into anything. But I wasn't fast enough.

Someone had broken through Soul's barrier and caught up with me, knocking my feet out from underneath me. I landed on my back hard, knocking the wind out of my lungs. I kicked out randomly, trying to keep my attacker at bay. The white figure grabbed my foot and flipped me onto my stomach, pinning me there with their foot to my back. I tried to escape, but the pressure from my attacker's foot was preventing me to draw in a deep breath and continue to struggle. My side burst into pain again.

There were footsteps approaching and then the professor's voice and he spoke with my attacker. "Take this."

"Silver!" I heard Soul scream. "Professor, don't hurt him! _Don't hurt him_!"

"Dr. Green, calm yourself. This part is painless." The professor said.

Liar. There was a small, sharp pain to the back of my neck, and the world began to grow dark. The pain in my side was fading, as were Soul's shouts of protest. The crushing weight was lifted off my back, but I didn't have the energy to stand and continue to run. I managed a feeble attempt to get up, but my arms gave out underneath me and I plunged into darkness.

**XxXxXxXx**

I don't know how much time passed. I seemed to be out for an eternity. When I did finally become aware of my surroundings again, the first thing I noticed was both my hands felt like someone had taken a hammer and smashed them into the cold table I was lying on. I couldn't bend my fingers. I tried to move my arms, but thick restraints cut into my wrists and upper arms, securing me firmly in place. Same for my legs. Something was keeping me from moving my head side to side. All this sparked a bit of fear inside me, but not enough to wake me up completely. I could finally make out sounds as my head cleared from whatever knockout drug they used on me. Voices and beeps, from the machines behind me.

"Are you sure that he can survive this?" someone was asking. I hoped that Soul was somewhere nearby, trying to save me. I kept my eyes shut and tried to remain calm.

"He's come this far." The professor said.

"That's exacally what the other one did. He died when we tried to awaken his dormant senses." The assistant said in flat tones, like he didn't even care.

"Then again, this one is different," I heard the professor begin walking around the table I was on. "he's nearly blind, for one thing. If my theory is correct, his body will welcome the dormant senses and use part of them for healing his sight… he should survive."

"But he was injured not that long ago. He could have been weakened enough so this process would kill him."

"Don't worry. We won't awaken all of his senses. Just enough to be of use to us so we can study the effects," The professor continued walking slowly around me. "he won't be threat to us."

"Sir, you said yourself that this is unpredictable." The assistant said worriedly. That wasn't a good sign.

"So I did. I have ways to control him if I get more than I bargained for."

A door opened. I heard slow footsteps walk into the room, and then a voice. A reluctant, scared voice. "I'm ready when you are, professor."

Soul! She came back! My heart rate spiked at her voice, giving me away. The professor came back towards the table. "Well, look at that. If he can fight off drugs that strong, he's bound to survive."

I opened my eyes slightly to only see a glaring light above me. I couldn't turn my head away from the light, so I squinted as best as I could and muttered, "Soul, help me!"

She didn't answer me. I strained to look in her direction, but the restraints dug into my arms and wrists, forcing me to lay still again. The professor chuckled cruelly.

"I think he's ready, don't you?"

"Soul, what's going on? Soul!" I shouted as I caught sight of the professor's shadowed figure out of the corner of my left eye. "Soul!"

She still didn't do or say anything. I stared up at the professor's figure, trying to see what he was doing just to the left of me. A harsh beep sounded, and then a few quieter ones that blended in with the heart monitor. What was he doing? What was he going to do to me? Why was Soul just standing there?

"Silver, please…just lie still and it'll be over." Soul finally said so softly I could barely hear her voice. "I promise."

The professor began placing electrodes on my head. They were heavier than normal and a lot thicker than the ones monitoring my heartbeat. I tried to move away, but the restraints cut into my wrist. I felt blood began to drip down my hand. "What are you doing?" I managed to say.

"We're going to awaken your dormant senses. Everyone has them, but you seem to be able to express some already in a distant way. We're just going to fully awaken about half of them and see if this can be done to humans as well." The professor said, continuing to place electrodes on my skin. Soon at least twenty covered my head and chest. He put one on the back of my hands and in my palms and then stepped away.

"Where are you going? What are you going to do to me?" I couldn't stop my voice from breaking. "Soul! Please help me!"

"I can't," I heard her whisper. "this is my life's work."

"Ready for this?" The assistant asked.

"No! Let me go!" I started tugging at the restraints, trying to break free. That proved next to impossible.

"Let's get this over with." The professor said.

There was another harsh beep and the light above me flashed red as what felt like lightning coursed through my body. I couldn't hear myself scream over the sound of my blood rushing in my ears. I thought at any second my heart would give out and I would end up dead, like the other poor unfortunate prisoner of these humans. He didn't die from his wounds, he died from this torture they called '_science._'

I felt like I was being torn apart from the inside out. And yet…there was a part of my mind that was calm somehow. Even through all this agony, it seemed to know it would end and would wait patiently for that moment. Just when the lightning coursing through my veins became unbearable, that part of my mind acted. I felt more calmness spreading from that place over my entire brain, countering the pain. It spread over my entire body, blocking out everything save a slight humming sound and leaving me in a quiet place. Was that just my body completely shutting down? Was I dead? Was I dying? Where was I…?

And just like that, the humming stopped. I couldn't hear anything now. I couldn't see anything, even though my eyes were open. And then it hit me like a crashing wave.

The sounds, smells and feelings were overwhelming. My senses had tripled…no, quadrupled from the state they had previously been in. The light hit my pupils and I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Let him go! You did what you wanted to him! Let him _go_!" Soul was hysterically screaming. Someone was holding her back, judging from the sound of straining fabric. I slowly opened my eyes.

There, standing above me, was the professor. But now I could actually see him. My eyes were back! I could see! He had gray hair messily sticking out from his head on all sides; dark, oval glasses and cruel, green eyes. He smiled coldly down at me and stepped back. "It worked. Our first success."

Something cloth ripped and Soul was at my side, one sleeve of her white lab coat ripped completely off. That was why they all appeared whitewashed before I could finally see again. Their coats were so bright it almost blocked out any other colors. Her blue eyes were wide and scared. She looked completely different from the professor. She only wanted me to be away from this place, somewhere safe. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm so sorry…"

The professor roughly pushed her to the side and held up something circular and metal. "This will keep you from getting any ideas about escaping." He hissed, unclasping part of it and wrapping it around my neck. It latched with a loud click. "Soul, get him out of here and put him in the intensive research unit."

He left, along with his assistant. Soul wasted no time in tearing the electrodes off me and unlatching my restraints.

"I'm so sorry…Silver, are you all right? You went completely still and your heart stopped for about twenty seconds…" she brushed her black hair away from her face. "I didn't know if you were going to make it…" she held out her hand to help me up.

I reached out to push her arm away but my hand caught my eye. It was bandaged fingertips to wrist, same for my other. But underneath the bandages, something semicircular was …_glowing_?

"They implanted a piece of metal that would react with your brainwaves to take in your surroundings. If you touch something, you should be able to feel emotions that have been riding on it and who had it before you." Soul said softly.

I stood up shakily on my own, although my legs were shaking terribly. I got a look around the room to see that it was gray, cold and…it felt evil. I could sense fear from the other Mobian that was here before me. I wanted to leave.

I used the wall for support rather than guidance this time. Soul was always right behind me, making sure I didn't fall. She gently guided me down cold white halls to another cold white room with a rather large cage near one wall.

"I'm not going in there." I said firmly.

"I'm afraid you have to." Soul whispered.

I tugged at the metal collar around my neck. "Get this off of me." I hissed.

"Silver, I can't. If the professor found out I-"

"I don't care! Get this off of me and get me out of here! I can't live another day in this place! The new senses are overwhelming! You went along with this plan from the beginning, didn't you? I wish I died that night you found me!" I couldn't describe my anger. I just wanted to let Soul know how I felt, but then this happened. Her eyes were startled, and then full of sadness. I never wanted to hurt her with my words.

"I'm sorry." I said softly.

"I'm the one who's sorry." She muttered. "I let this happen."

I couldn't make eye contact with her. Instead I made my way to the cage and walked inside, shutting the door behind me. I found a thin blanket and a old, lumpy pillow thrown in one corner. My new home.

Four beeps sounded and the door locked in place. The only light came from the door, where a small square was cut out of the steel. Two large, thick bars covered the space. The walls and floor were freezing and hard.

"I'll check on you in half an hour. If you need anything, tell me, ok?" Soul looked in at me from the window.

I didn't answer her. I curled up in the corner , clutching my knees to my chest and facing the bare wall. I didn't even touch the pillow or the blanket. I somehow managed to slip into a well needed sleep, dreaming of being stuck in a white box that was slowly closing in on me.


	5. Chapter 5

** XxXxXxXx**

** CHAPTER 5**

Over the endless weeks, I simply lost the will to live. I never ate anything Soul tried to give me and I never resisted the professor or his assistants as they put me through test after test, checking to see if they succeeded in their terrible project. Apparently they did, because one day they came in the room my cage was in, cheering loudly. The professor entered my cell and finally cut the bandages away from my hands with a sharp knife.

"It worked." he smiled cruelly at me. "You're now the only creature ever to survive the first awakening process."

I didn't say anything. I just gazed sadly past him from my corner of the cage to the wall. My reflection on the lower part of the door showed a skinnier than ever version of me with dull, defeated eyes. The previous day I had trouble walking from my cage to the examination room. My muscles were slowly weakening to the point where I could hardly use them.

"We're thinking because the first awakening was such a success, we should try the second."

I just stared blankly at him, no emotion on my face.

"The pain you endured the first time would feel like a pinprick compared to the next phase. That's one of the reasons why we didn't do it all at once, the other being you might be able to overpower us." The professor continued on. "The pain might kill you like it did to our first specimen."

I just blinked. I didn't care what they did to me anymore. I was never going to see Blaze again. I should have given up hope the second I realized that they had strapped me to a table when I first regained consciousness here. Why did I trust Soul? She only deceived me and let the professor experiment on me.

The professor seemed to read my thoughts. He smirked and he and his group of assistants left the room, slamming the door behind them with an extremely loud _bang_.

I finally glanced at my hands. There were bright blue glowing semicircles circling around both the back of my hand and my palm. When I flexed my fingers, it sent a dull throb of pain through my arms. The glowing metal implanted in my hands could flex along with my muscles, but it restricted movement slightly. Ugly scars covered both hands.

I felt tears stinging my eyes. I just wanted to be free. I wanted to see Blaze clearly, just once. I wanted to know more than the color white.

The door opened with a soft click and closed with an equally soft sound. There were slow footsteps approaching my cage, but I didn't care. I just wanted this to be over.

"Silver, please, you've got to eat something." Soul said gently, opening the cage door and entering into my prison. She was carrying a bowl filled with something creamy. It smelled warm and delicious and my stomach rumbled loudly. I resisted the temptation of food and didn't move where I was lying. Soul sat down in front of me and offered me the bowl.

I just stared into her blue eyes blankly. My sight went in and out of focus. Her eyebrows knitted together in worry and she reached out and pressed the back of her hand to my forehead. "One of the great mysteries will forever be…how do you develop a fever in a sterilized lab?" she said quietly.

I didn't react to her in the slightest. I stared at her knee and tried to imagine how I would see the world if I ever escaped. I just wanted to see the world again, no matter how badly messed up it was. Soul put the bowl of food off to the side and scooted backwards so she was leaning against the wall. She gently stroked my quills and tried to get me to eat. I didn't acknowledge her in the slightest.

She finally just stopped talking to me. She sat there for I don't know how long, just staring down at me. Finally she asked, "Do you want some medicine? Anything?"

"I want a scalpel." I said, my voice scratchy from not using it for so long. "Or any kind of knife. Anything sharp."

"Stop saying things like that." Soul said harshly. "I won't let you just die."

"It would be better than this." I whispered.

She took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry this all had to happen." She had been saying that a lot lately, but this time it really struck home in me. I tilted my head back to look into her eyes, which were glistening with tears. If there was anyone in this place who should be sad, it would be me, not her. She was only doing the work she was paid to do. She shouldn't care about a lab rat.

I shakily pulled myself up onto my knees but pitched forward into Soul's arms. I simply didn't have any energy left to do anything. I turned around in her arms and buried my face into the crook of her neck. Silent tears spilled from my eyes despite the fact she tried to calm me. I was just so lost. I needed someone to be there for me. I tried to forget that Soul had betrayed me, but I couldn't let go of my anger and confusion. I eventually fell asleep in her arms somehow. I dreamed I was back with Blaze; the two of us laughing and trying to have a good time despite the face that the world was in chaos. I was happy for the first time in a long time.

I woke up leaning against the wall with the bowl of food still nearby. With one shaking arm, I reached forward and dragged it towards me. It was cool now, but it still tasted so good. I scraped every bit from it, desperate for food. Nearly as soon as I was done, Soul's face appeared at the window of my cell.

"You ate it?" She sounded surprised.

I nodded. I still didn't feel like speaking to anyone.

She unlocked the door and retrieved the bowl. "While you were out I gave you a shot of medicine to reduce your fever. I thought you'd come back to your senses once it started taking effect."

I curled back up against the wall.

"I'll be back in about an hour, all right?" Soul left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

I started tugging at the metal collar around my neck. I had never really figured out what it was for, but the way it was designed I figured it was probably like a tracking device or some sort of shock collar. Either way, I decided not to escape the lab before I figured out how to get it off. I searched every inch of it, but I couldn't even find a groove in the smooth metal. Was it somehow fastened together…forever? I shuddered at the thought.

The professor came a bit later and had to drag me out of my cell because I just couldn't get my legs to work properly. He brought me into the examination room, where they ran more tests on me.

My reflexes had dramatically increased. My lungs were clear of the smoke residue. My hearing was six times better than before and was the same in both ears. My sight was better than an eagle's…whatever _that_ was. At least I was passing all the earlier tests they put me through before they awakened my senses.

"The only main concern is he's still seriously underweight. In fact, I think he dropped ten pounds since he got here." My examiner said, handing the professor a chart of some kind. The professor shot me a look that burned with dissatisfaction and said, "You'd better start eating everything Soul brings you or I'll be forced to strap you to a table and feed you through an IV. Your choice."

I shuddered from the hatred in his eyes.

Even though my knees were still shaking from supporting my pitiful body weight, they threw me back into the maze they had earlier. I ran my hand over the wall and was surprised to find that the layout of the thing was imprinted in my mind. I quickly found my way out once my legs stopped giving out under me, much to everyone's surprise.

"Incredible," The professor muttered, scribbling something down on a clipboard.

I had hardly done anything, but a few minuets later they brought me back to my cage and locked me in for the night. That was fine with me. I found another bowl of creamy food waiting for me and a slightly thicker blanket, both probably delivered by Soul. I devoured the food and nearly immeadentally collapsed from exhaustion.

My dreams that night were filled with darkness. I couldn't see anything but the small blue glow from the metal implanted in my hands. I was in some sort of box in which I couldn't find the exit. No matter what I did, I couldn't escape. I was a prisoner in my own mind…

I was startled out of my sleep by my cage door clanging open. It was dark, which was unusual. The professor usually always kept the light on. I curled in the corner I was nestled in and whispered, "Who's there?"

No one answered. I reached out slowly, my hand illuminating the darkness slightly. No one was even there. Weird. I wondered if this was some sort of test; I would think I was finally getting free…and then they would capture me again and crush my hopes. I had to at least try to escape.

I crawled out of the cage and used the door to get to my feet. After I was sure I was steady enough to walk some distance if needed, I headed to where I knew the door would be. It, too, was open. My awakened senses told me to go left, so go left I did.

It was dark in the halls too. The only light came from under doorways and small windows on the doors. Other than that, it was pitch black. I began to get excited. Maybe I really could escape this place. I figured Soul had unlocked my cage, and I hoped she wouldn't be treated too harshly in the future.

I rounded a corner, and my senses screamed to me not to go on. Unfortunately, that was about when I lost my balance and toppled forward, triggering some sort of alarm.

The lights flared on and a loud, blaring siren began sounding. I clasped my hands over my ears and curled into a small ball, hoping nothing would start shooting at me. I could hardly hear the noise over the sound of my own heart pounding. I could feel footsteps approaching, vibrating through the floor. I somehow could tell Soul was nearby.

The sirens stopped and I uncurled slightly, just enough to see who was around me. Soul dropped next to my side, a confused expression on her face. She obviously hadn't opened my cage. Who had?

The professor roughly nudged Soul out of the way. The action made anger flare up in my chest, but I figured I'd better not challenge the man. He was holding some sort of remote I was pretty sure went to my collar.

"How did you get out?" He demanded. "Tell me!"

"I thought this was some sort of test," I muttered.

"We're not that stupid." The professor hissed. "Get up. Now."

I struggled to my feet, suddenly feeling extremely tired. The adrenaline was wearing off and the feeling of defeat was setting in. One of the assistants stepped forward and roughly grabbed my arm and began pulling me along. We passed the room my cage was in…where were we going?

We entered another small room a few doors down. There was a small, uncomfortable looking bed shoved up against the wall, and that's where the assistant directed me. I sat on the edge of it, suddenly nervous. The bed didn't have any restraints on it, but then again something told me to be careful.

"What are you doing?" Apparently, Soul was as confused as I was.

"We have a theory on how he managed to escape," The professor simply said, turning on a small machine nearby the bed. "for the rest of the night, we're going to test that theory."

He picked up two small and wireless electrodes and came towards me. I backed up and he smirked. "Don't worry. This is harmless."

Somehow I knew he was telling the truth. He attached the electrodes to my temples and went to the machine. "You know how he has strong brainwaves, Soul?" the professor asked. "Well, I think his awakened senses brought that to the next level."

Fatigue had nearly completely set in again, although I tried to hide it. Soul obviously saw through my pitiful act because she pushed me back into the bed. I curled up on my side and pulled the blankets up towards my head. A few seconds later, I was back in the dark prison of my mind.

** XxXxXxXx**

I awoke to the sounds of arguing. I opened my eyes and saw Soul, the professor and a number of other people gathered in the farthest corner of the room, arguing over me.

"He doesn't even know about this power." Soul was saying. "You saw this last night."

"But still, if he finds out…there's no telling what he'll do." The professor hissed.

"I thought that was why you put that collar on him." Soul retorted.

"He can easily destroy that and everyone in this entire place. Something must be done."

"Like what? _Killing_ him?"

"Unless we can think of another option, then that's the one we're keeping in mind."

Powers? Now I was excited…and a bit scared. If I could access this power somehow, then I could escape this place. I tore the small electrodes off my temples and threw the blankets over my head. I might as well try to figure out a plan.

"We'll discuss this later. We're scheduled to land to restock on supplies soon, and we need to figure out where." The professor said. I heard him and his assistants leave the room. One didn't leave, which I guessed was Soul.

"Remember how I said that you were unique to us because of your brainwaves?" She said slowly. "Well…apparently when we awakened your senses we got more than we expected. You went into some alternate stage of sleep last night, muttering about fire, and the next thing we knew, the smoke alarms were going off."

I didn't move. I waited for her to finish.

"Apparently we've awakened some sort of degree of telekinesis."

All right! If this was true, all I had to do was train myself to use it on command…and bam!...instant freedom! I untangled myself from the sheets and tried to ask in emotionless tones, "Anything else?"

"No, that's about it." Soul gave me a very worried look. "But so far you can only use this power when you're dreaming. You can't use it now. You won't be able to try anything."

My heart sank, but I told myself she was only telling me this so I wouldn't try to escape. I could use this power if I put my mind to it. But on taking a look at Soul's face, it was clear she wasn't lying. But still, that wouldn't stop me from trying.

"Come on, let's get you out of here." Soul lead me back to my cage, locking the door behind her. I started pacing back and fourth, trying to find something to do. Thoughts kept swirling in my mind, but none of them would help me escape. For the moment I would have to just wait until an opportunity came.

"_…We're scheduled to land to restock on supplies…_" The professor's voice echoed in my head.

Wait…land? That's right, Soul said that this place was floating in the sky and they needed to land only because food stocks would run out or supplies ran low. Wasn't this flying fortress fueled by smoke?

Then that's how I would escape. I would escape when this place landed. I don't care where they would touch earth again, I just wanted freedom. I began walking faster, excited by my plan. I started to work out minor details, like how to avoid everyone in this place or where I could hide if they came for me. Satisfied by my planning, I tried to remember how I unlocked the door last night. Did I dream I did it, or did I dream the pass code? Either way, I wouldn't be able to do it now. I reached through the bars on the door and found the keypad. No random numbers popped into my head, so I tried to guess.

A loud harsh beep sounded. I guess I didn't get it. At least I knew one thing: the key code was only four numbers long. But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't think of any four digit number that might buy me my freedom.

I don't know how long I sat there, but after what seemed like forever there was a loud _thump_ in the hall, and then a shout.

Soul.

I jumped up and peered out from the window, trying to see what was going on. The door to the room was closed, but the frosted glass on the door showed five figures, one of which seemed to be struggling against another.

"Soul!" I shouted. "Soul, is that you?"

The figure tried to say something, but was cut off. The door opened and the professor entered with two other assistants. Two other people stood in the doorway. Soul's arms were held behind her back by another assistant, and he had his arm around her neck.

"Soul!" I shouted again. "Let her go!"

"I will if you cooperate unresistingly," The professor smirked. "and if you don't, there's a good chance that he'll snap her neck."

Soul's eyes were wide and her face had a pleading expression on it. But it wasn't for her life, it was for mine. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew that it was probably about me. I stepped back from the door and the professor unlocked it. I didn't move from where I was standing. The man holding Soul pressed harder on her windpipe and I moved forward quickly. His grip relaxed on her throat and he gave me a cruel smile.

"This way, please." The professor dug his elbow into my back, nearly making me fall forward. I regained my balance, cast a worried glance at Soul, and exited the room.

They lead me down the hall until we came to an all too familiar room. I stopped in the doorway. "No! You said you wouldn't risk awakening all my senses!" I began backing up until the professor forcefully grabbed my arm and dragged me into the room. Soul's guard pushed her into the room and took his arm away from her neck but kept a firm grip on her arms.

"Professor, no! He won't survive this!" She screamed.

I glanced toward the metal table in the middle of the room. The restraints were open and ready to keep me tied down when the lightning-like sensation would course through my body. Behind the table was the machine responsible for my sight and imprisonment. Just looking at it made my stomach drop and my knees shake. The professor threw me onto the table and one of his assistants ran forward and quickly strapped my left arm down.

"Let me go! Let me go! Stop, please!" I screamed, punching out with my free arm. The professor grabbed it and forced it down so his assistant could strap it in. Before long I could hardly move. They went on with attaching the many electrodes over my body. I never stopped pleading with them to let Soul go because they had me now. I knew I wasn't getting out of this.

"No, I think she should stay and see how this work could change the world." The professor sneered at me. He walked backwards towards the machine and the assistant backed off.

"No! N…no, please!" I screamed. I glanced towards Soul, who's eyes were overflowing with tears. That was the last thing I saw before my vision turned bright as the Flames.

The pain was worse this time. It felt as though a burning sword were being plunged into my head and into my heart and then being drawn out to repeat. My voice gave out almost immeadentally. I couldn't breathe. My vision was turning red. I waited for the calm I felt the first time they did this to me…but it never came. I knew if it didn't come soon, I really would die. My vision was doing dark. I was barely managing to gasp for air. Sound was muting itself. I couldn't feel the restraints digging into my arms and legs.

And then everything was quiet, pain free and dark.

** XxXxXxXx**

"Silver?" a female voice asked.

I opened my eyes, but it was still dark. "Who's there?" I asked nervously.

"It's me," The voice said softly. "I didn't expect to see you here so soon."

"Where is here?" I asked. I still couldn't feel or see anything.

"It doesn't have a name." The voice went on. "It's just…Here. You'll understand in a few moments."

I suddenly felt myself pitching forward and then all around me was…grass! A whole field of it! It wasn't dead…where was I? Oh, the sky! It really _is_ blue! It's beautiful! Wherever I was, I never wanted to leave.

"I reacted just about the same you did."

I spun around to see a dark gray hedgehog a bit taller than me, although she hadn't changed a day from that night. Her eyes were the same bright gold as mine were and her quills were smoothed down over her shoulders.

"_Cobalt!_" I screamed, wrapping my arms around her. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

"I knew I'd see you sometime again…I just didn't think it'd be now." Cobalt whispered.

"Wait…" I let go of her and backed up slightly. "…does this mean I'm…"

"Dead?" Cobalt finished.

"Yeah. Am I dead?"

Cobalt looked down at the green grass and up at the sky. She still didn't answer.

"Cobalt,_ am I dead_?" I whispered loudly.

"There's still time, if you want to go back. I thought you wanted to be here, though. I watched what they did to you." Cobalt admitted softly.

"I want to go back! Cobalt…I have power! I might be able to drive away the Flames and restore places on the planet!" I said. "I could save people from this horror!"

"Silver, you always had the power." Cobalt smiled, all knowingly. "Even before you were supposedly 'awakened'."

"Then why couldn't I use them before?" I shouted. "If I could have used them before, I could have prevented all of this from happening!"

"Those metal rings they implanted in your hands?" Cobalt pointed to the backs of my hands. "Use them to magnify your power. Before, you were using your power, although not in concentrated bursts. Now you should be able to accomplish so much more. Have you ever wondered why the Flames never approached Blaze's house?"

"I…how do you know?" I asked.

"Silver, I'm dead. I can see things now." Cobalt smiled sadly. "But when you dreamed at night, you prevented the Flames from approaching. But now that you've been captured…"

"What's happened to Blaze?" I demanded, staring my sister in her eyes. "What happened to her?"

"Her house was destroyed. She's taken refuge with many others in one of the last intact places on the planet; a cave on top of the tallest mountain in the area." Cobalt said. "So far they've been holding up. But sooner or later the Flames will move there also."

"Send me back, Cobalt! I have to help them!" I pleaded. "I can't lose someone else. Blaze is like a sister to me…she's like you."

"Only she doesn't make you climb onto the roof like I used to." Cobalt smiled.

"I can't begin to say how much I miss both her and you."

"I can't begin to tell you how much Mom and Dad miss you."

I glanced up, surprised. "Mom and Dad are here too?"

"Not at the moment." Cobalt motioned around us. "But they do come here. Sometimes we'll watch you and enter your dreams, although you never seem to remember them. They want you to stay here with them, but I know you have things you have to do first back on the planet."

"As soon as they're done, bring me back here." I said. "I want to see you guys again."

"We'll be with you," Cobalt promised. "but sometimes you'll see us in your dreams."

I gave her a grateful smile. "How can I use my power to its full potential?"

"Clear your mind of any other thoughts and imagine it happening. Almost anything can be accomplished this way." Cobalt seemed to be turning slightly transparent. "I'm sending you back now. Good luck, Silver."

"Thanks, Cobalt." I said as the green grass, blue sky, and my sister vanished to be replaced by darkness once again.


	6. Chapter 6

** XxXxXxXx**

** CHAPTER 6**

All the electrodes had been taken off my body, and the strange metal collar around my neck was gone. I just lay on the cold table, still strapped down. I could hear Soul crying, but I didn't dare move. Not yet.

"Just too weak." The professor hissed somewhere to my right. "if he had been stronger…we would have succeeded."

"Professor…" Soul gasped, trying desperately to stop her tears. "Can I take his body and…_dispose_…of it?" she said the word like it burned.

"Go ahead. He's no use to us now." The professor growled.

Soul unstrapped my arms and legs and gently lifted me off the table. The warmth from her arms was burning since I had been lying on a ice cold table. She carried me out of the room and down the hall to who knows where. But I still didn't open my eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Silver." She whispered. "I'm so sorry…"

One of her tears dripped onto my nose. I couldn't help it….I sneezed.

Soul jumped and nearly dropped me. I opened my eyes and looked up into her face. "Hi, Soul," I said hoarsely.

"Silver!" She paled. "You…you're suppost to be dead!"

"But I'm not..." I managed to give her a small smile. My head began to pound with a migraine. "Don't…don't let them know…"

"Of course not." Soul said firmly. She began to walk faster.

"Soul…my powers…I had them all along." I said in a voice just above a whisper. My eyes were growing heavy again and I nuzzled into her arms.

Soul didn't respond. She just kept walking fast down the hall, occasionally turning and entering a door until we came to a halt. "All right. I need you to stay here until I figure out what's going to happen."

I forced my eyes open and I glanced around the room. We must have been in Souls' quarters, judging by the bed in one corner and a dresser in another. She put me on the bed and began pacing from one wall to the other. "Are you all right?" She asked sharply.

"Yeah," I lied. My head felt like someone was pounding on it with a hammer and every inch of my body ached. My eyelids refused to stay open.

"Well, I have to leave you here, until I can either find somewhere to hide you or get you out of here." Soul stopped pacing and stared straight into my eyes. "Do not make a single noise in here. If anyone hears anything…then you're dead, and quite possibly so am I. I'll be back soon." And she left.

I curled onto my side, drawing my knees up to my chest. The pain dulled slightly. Before I knew it, I sunk into a dreamless sleep.

** XxXxXxXx**

When I finally woke, my headache was mostly gone and I was slightly more aware than I was earlier. It took me a second to realize where I was again, but when I realized I wasn't in danger I relaxed. I saw a small bottle of Soul's perfume on top of the dresser and I focused my mind on it and it alone. I pictured it rising in the air and landing in my open palm. I mentally pictured every move it made, and what speed it traveled at to reach me.

So when it actually rose into the air and began moving towards me I nearly freaked out. The bottle began dropping towards the floor but I made it rise again. It traveled to me and landed in my hand, like I had imagined. It really _did_ work. Cobalt was right. The metal in my hands magnified my power.

I made the bottle float back and fourth across the room a couple of times until I was confident I could move small objects successfully. At least, I could move small objects successfully across rooms with absolutely zero noise.

Soul walked in the room when the bottle was directly over my head, startling me and causing the bottle to drop down heavily on my skull. She stood there in the doorway for a few seconds before saying, "Did you just do what I think you just did?"

"Moving objects with my mind, yes." I said.

"Wow," Soul was stunned, to say the least. She retrieved the bottle from beside me and walked to the opposite side of the room. "Ok, impress me."

She had a firm grip on the bottle. It took almost all I had to release her fingers from around the sides of it and have it drift over to me. "Good job." Soul said. "have you been practicing for a while?"

"Not really." I confessed.

"Well, you're a natural." She said. "How did you make me release my own fingers from around the perfume?"

"I just pictured it happening, and it did." I said simply. "There's really nothing to it."

"So I see," Soul nodded. "anyway, I have news. We're landing somewhere around the shack back in the woods…where we found you. But most of it's covered with Flames. We need to work fast and hard to get supplies in this facility. While we do that, you need to escape."

"I can do that." I said confidently. "Just tell me when to run, and I will."

"I'll come get you before we start loading. But there's a good chance you will run into the scientists working here as you try to make your way out. If you do get into trouble, don't hesitate to use your power. These people here are hardy and shouldn't be very fazed by anything out of the ordinary. Just…as soon as they're out of your way, run for it." Soul said.

I nodded. "When are we landing?"

"Soon…within two hours. Until then…practice." Soul headed back to the door. "I'll be back."

Two hours passed quickly. In that time I managed to levitate her dresser a few inches off the ground and set it back down without a sound. I even levitated myself a few inches off the bed, but the feeling of not touching anything while floating in midair unnerved me and I fell back onto the bed. When I just managed to talk myself out of the creepy feeling, Soul was back.

"You have to move quickly. We're starting to land, and it looks as though you won't be able to escape cleanly if we wait until we land before you start running. I need you to start making your way to the nearest emergency escape. There are signs all over the place, so it won't be hard to find." Soul said all this extremely quickly. "Are you up for this?"

"Of course." I stood confidently.

"I'll head back to one of the labs. Wait five minuets before coming, all right? That way it'll look less suspicious." Soul exited the room and from the sound of her footsteps, ran down the hall.

The five minuets passed and I gripped the door handle, ready to gain freedom once again. I opened the door and darted down the hall, surprising a man in a gray lab coat. He hesitated a bit before running in the opposite direction, obviously running for backup.

A red Emergency Exit sign caught my eye. I followed the red arrow down a hall and directly past a lab that was filled with researchers. They all jumped up and ran after me. Panicked, I tried to run faster but ended up tripping over my own feet and sprawling out on the floor. One of the researchers pinned both my wrists to the ground and dug his knee into my back, driving the air out of my lungs.

"I thought it was dead!" one of them exclaimed in awe. "So it worked, then…"

I stopped trying to struggle against the man holding me down and went completely limp. He relaxed his grip slightly, and I imagined him releasing me and backing up slowly.

His grip loosened even more, but he didn't let go. The pressure in the middle of my back began to wean. He gave a startled and slightly worried cry as to why he was losing control of his muscles…and then altogether backed off from me. I sprang up and continued running, with the researchers shouting orders into some sort of communicator.

Another Emergency Exit sign. I followed it to a door which was blocked by the professor and one of his assistants, who was holding some sort of small gun. I skidded to a stop and glanced behind me, where the group of scientists were gaining. Nowhere to run.

"Thought you could escape death _and_ us?" The professor smirked. "That's asking too much." The assistant stepped forward with the strange looking gun. I took a step backwards.

"Just give up." The professor drew the metal collar thing out of his pocket again. "Give up and we won't hurt you."

I imagined the professor stepping to the side so I could enter the door. He sort of stumbled to the right and I bolted for the door.

The assistant's gun caught me in my newly healed side and sent a wave of electricity though me. My muscles began to randomly spasm, making running impossible at the moment. I collapsed in a shuddering ball near the door.

"I bet that didn't feel too good." The professor snickered. "Don't worry, we won't have to do that again…if you cooperate." He stepped forward with the collar thing open, ready to wrap around my neck again.

At the last second, I imagined the collar crumpling into a useless ball of iron with all my might…and it began to fold in on itself as invisible hands crushed it. The professor backed up in shock. "Wha….what is this?"

I managed to get to my knees and then picture myself getting up and running down that hall. My power got me to my feet and brought me to the door and down the next hall, exacally like I planned. I was getting good at this.

_ POW_.

A bullet ricocheted off the wall nearby me, hitting one of the lights on the roof. It brought down a shower of sparks, some of which burned my fur. Another bullet hit near my feet. They weren't trying to kill me…

The possibility of being trapped here all my life gave me energy to go faster. I could run without aid from my power now, and I darted down the halls faster than I would have ever thought I could go.

The scientists behind me began shouting for help. More people poked their heads out from around corners and joined in on the chase. I needed a distraction, but in order for it to work properly, I would need to stop.

I stopped when I had rounded a corner. I focused my power on the wiring in the wall, willing it to cause another shower of bright sparks; enough to let me go free.

Someone grabbed my arm before I could allow it to work and my thoughts were thrown off. The walls sparked—and then exploded in fire.

Plaster and wire rained down on us. It burned my fur and their coats, creating an acidic smell of smoke. I crawled from the debris and continued running. All along the walls burnt marks were present. I must have sent a burst of overload power through the place. I reached the end of the hall to see fire eating away at the wall and sending plumes of black smoke into the air. I jumped through it and hit the wall of a new hallway, coughing from the smoke. It was like that night so long ago…

Down here it was worse. Smoke flowed out from the wall in waves, like there was an ocean of suffocating darkness hidden behind the wall, just aching to escape. I found another Emergency Exit sign and entered a door.

"Silver!"

Soul was there, choking in the smoke. "What happened? The smoke…it just came! What happened?"

"They distracted me and I sent an overload of power through the wiring in the walls." I said. "Where's the exit?"

"It's over here…but we're still too high for you to escape! We're at least a fourth of a mile in the air!"

"I can levitate myself down." I said. "You're coming too, right?"

"I…" Soul trailed off. "I can't. I have to get everyone out of here."

A blaring alarm began to scream through the halls. Soul gave me a look that seemed to be saying, 'People in this place can escape by themselves. I can't leave because of a completely different reason.'

"What is it really?" I demanded.

"My parents' life's work is in this place." Soul shouted over the alarm. "I can't just leave it."

"It's suicide!" I protested.

"No it isn't." She said firmly. "Now go. If you think you can make it safely down, then go!"

She raced back through the door I had entered into. I was about to follow her but a beam crashed down in front of me, blazing with fire. I looked through the flames to see Soul holding a piece of metal like she had used it to knock the beam down in front of me. I turned back to the door on the side of the flying lab and glanced outside to see the burning wasteland I called home. I glanced back behind me one last time, destroyed the door with my newly found power and took a deep breath lined with smoke… and jumped.

I managed to catch myself before I hit the ground _too_ hard. My left leg gave out from underneath me and I crumpled to the ground. I struggled to get back on my feet and a sharp pain coursed through my left ankle. I glanced up at the sky to see what looked like a gigantic oval propelled by tiny pinwheels mirroring the harsh red light from below. So that was the lab.

As I watched, smoke began pouring out of it in different places. Sparks of fire could be spotted…and then one of the most horrifying sights I had ever seen took place.

The lab split in two and both sides began falling towards the Flames.

"_SOUL_!" I screamed. "_SOUL_! NOO!"

My leg gave out underneath me and I fell to the ground. A piece of burnt wood splintered under my hand but I hardly noticed it. My vision blurred with tears and anger. Why had I let her just go back like that?

I started coughing. I had been away from smoke for so long that breathing was extremely painful. It burnt my lungs…I couldn't breathe. My eyes watered up as the smoke became almost unbearable…and then my strength completely failed.

**XxXxXxXx**

"Is he coming around?"

"Just wait…"

"How'd he get there in the first place? I've never seen him before."

"It doesn't matter…"

"Don't you two have something better to do than sit there all day arguing where he came from?"

The last voice caught my attention. I forced myself out of sleep and opened my eyes. Two curious young hedgehogs were on both the left and right side of me. Standing at the foot of the bed I was lying in was a familiar purple cat, only this time I could actually see her.

"Blaze!" I gasped, only to begin another coughing fit.

"I can't believe you're still alive." She shook her head. "After all that worrying and hoping…you just turn up. What happened?"

"I'll explain…" I coughed some more. "But Blaze…I can see now."

She looked genuinely surprised. She lifted her left hand and held two fingers up. "How many?" She asked.

"Two."

"How about now?"

"Four,"

"Now you've _really_ got some explaining to do."

The two hedgehogs giggled and wondered away from us. I finally glanced around to see I was in some sort of cave. Well, more like a small room built into a cave. A few candles were mounted on the walls, lighting the place up. Behind Blaze I could see people walking about, chatting away or hurrying to some unknown location.

"The night I turned up missing…something was telling me to go back to the shack." I started. "I went there…but the Flames took a shape and almost succeeded in killing me had not this group of scientists found me. Blaze, they were _human_! They brought me back to their lab and helped me recover…until the leader decided to try to awaken my dormant senses. I regained my sight after that." I started.

"It was terrifying while you were gone." Blaze sighed. "The next morning I awoke to find the house on fire…I just barely escaped. I thought you were dead. I found a small group of survivors and we made our way to this mountain, one of the last safe places on the planet. We made trips out daily to find other survivors and bring them here. We've almost got enough people here to start a small city."

"You might be thinking that the scientists did me a favor," I continued. "but it was really just for their experiments. They only cared if I survived the experiment or not. Luckily, I survived both, but just barely. I think I was dead for a while…" I held up my hands. "they implanted some sort of metal in my hands that magnifies my power."

"Power?" Blaze asked, a bit skeptical.

"Power," I confirmed. "it turns out I had it from birth, but didn't really know about it until Cobalt explained. She said I kept our house from burning down with the power."

"Wait…Cobalt, your sister?"

"I told you, I think I was dead for a while."

Blaze just sort of stared at me. "What kind of power?" She asked slowly.

"This kind." I concentrated on the nearest candle. It lifted itself out of the wall and floated over to me. I took it and handed it to her. "Cool, huh?"

"Very," The shock on her face was almost comical.

I made the candle implant itself into the rock again. "I also met the daughter of Jennifer and Nick. Soul."

"She was there?" Blaze started pacing the room. "How many surprises can I take before I stop believing you?"

"Well, she was there. She's the reason I escaped." I glanced down at my blankets. "But the place they worked in…it caught fire and burned. I don't know if she survived. All because of me."

After a moment of silence, Blaze came up to the side of the bed and held out her hand. "Come on, I think you should get a look around."

** XxXxXxXx**

"So you can fly too?"

"No, it's more of a levitation." I said.

"Can't you just levitate yourself around, then?" Blaze asked.

"I could try." I stopped putting weight on my injured ankle and willed myself to float above the ground. It worked and I began gliding around her in circles.

"Show off," Blaze snickered. We came to what seemed to be the main cavern.

It was colossal. The ceiling was at least fifty feet up, and every few feet candles were lit along the walls. I wondered how they were all lit. "This is basically where we go for meetings and things like that. Off to the side is a storage room and over there is a stairway that leads up in case this place gets filled with the Flames." Blaze explained.

We headed up what seemed like an endless circle of stairs until we entered a smaller room that held a few less people. Most of them waved at Blaze as she caught their eyes.

"A lot of the inhabitants here don't even want to risk being near the Flames and spend their time up here." Blaze said as we wondered around the cavern. "I've actually got my quarters up here. If you wanted, there's an available room down the hall."

We entered a tunnel that looked like it was carved recently. Doors made of different substances lined the walls. Blaze lead me to a wooden one and let me look around inside. It was simple, just a bed and a small chest for any belongings. But to me, it seemed like the perfect home.

"The only thing everyone here has to worry about individually is food. We can't afford to send people further and further out looking for anything to eat everyday. We leave that up to everyone here." Blaze continued. "If you want, I could show you your new room... if you want it."

"I probably will." I said.

She lead me down the hallway until it curved right. My door was made out of cloth nailed to a thinner piece of wood than Blaze's. I levitated myself inside and found the interior exacally like hers. "I'll take it." I said.

"That's what I thought. I'll let you stay here for a few minuets…I've got to check with the guy in charge here about something." Blaze left.

I sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed my ankle lightly. It wasn't swelling, but it hurt like I had stepped in hot coals. I imagined it returning to normal; the pain gone.

I carefully put weight on it and was satisfied to feel that my power also worked for healing. I walked around the small room for a few minuets and then out and down the many halls until I came to the top of the mountain. All around me fire burned just as it had when I left.

I took a deep breath and jumped off the mountain, catching myself in midair and gliding over the sea of death. It had never looked so terrible, but then again, back then I was nearly blind. Now it seemed like a whole new perspective. It was overwhelming.

There was a particular lake of Flames that caught my attention. It was swirling downwards, like something was in it. I began drifting towards it when a stream of fire shot at me. I managed to dodge in time, and the fire landed harmlessly in another burning area. I turned my attention back on the swirling fire.

What looked like an arm was slowly forming out of the lava. Another arm came and began trying to lift something out of the pool of fire. Before I knew it, I was nearly eye to eye with what was responsible for the destruction of my world.

Iblis.

That was its name.

The fire demon that everyone thought came straight from Hell, to bring Hell. In many ways, it did.

Iblis swung one of its fiery arms in my direction, but I quickly dived under it and landed in a fire free area. My sight settled on a boulder nearby.

I concentrated all my energy on the rock and sent it hurtling at Iblis' face. It gave a mighty roar and sunk into the fires again. I was still alert, waiting for it to come back and slaughter me like it had planned earlier in my life. It never did.

"Silver?" I turned to see Blaze standing a few feet away, separated from me by a small river of flame. "How did you do that?"

"I don't know." I admitted. "But I'm exhausted."

"I don't doubt it. Come on, he won't dare come near us for a while. You deserve rest, anyway." She began expertly jumping over rivers and pits of flame while I lazily levitated myself after her. By the time I reached my new room, I was absolutely drained. I collapsed onto the bed and slept for two days straight.

** XxXxXxXx**

The next two weeks were interesting. I trained with my power so I could lift virtually anything if I put my mind to it. I could levitate myself all day and not even be a bit tired afterwards. I helped run the mountain's day-to-day schedule and sometimes ventured out to try to find anything worth eating. I grew stronger in both mind and body. I could defend the mountain at any time, anywhere.

Blaze taught me where to go in case of a firestorm, although those were rare. In all my life, I've only seen four of them. But they were destructive and deadly. Everyone would have to be aware. Firestorms were when fire rained down from the sky, part of Iblis' wrath. The estimated death rate for each firestorm was about a thousand dead, twice that many wounded.

I had also found a pair of white gloves to help cover up the nasty scars on my hands. Now I appeared almost normal to anyone. The only thing that set me apart was if I got excited, I would usually levitate a few inches off the ground.

For the first time in my life, I felt useful and accepted by everyone. But the real probablem with this place was the Flames. Blaze was certain that if I trained hard enough, I could defeat Iblis and bring the planet back to its former glory. I wondered if it'd be like the place I met Cobalt in…

…_Cobalt, tell Soul thank you. I owe her my life_. I silently thought. It was true, without Soul, I might be truly dead. It was sort of terribly ironic that her parents had somehow got caught up in the lab before her…and she died trying to save their lost works. I would never forget her as long as I lived.

I launched myself off the top of the mountain and began to glide around the ruined city. I felt anger, fear and hate building up inside of me. Anger, fear and hate for the Flames; anger, fear and hate for Iblis…just everything that had destroyed this place.

After all…

This world was devastated before I was born…

__**XxXxXxXx**

** END**

** Yeah, epic 54 page FanFic on a WORD document finished! I hope this ties up any loose ends…if not, there will be updates. I just hope ARCHIE or whatever does the comics didn't make a origin for Silver or Blaze or anyone…because I just wrote it. : P**

** Anyway, review and stuff, no Flames…flame me and I release Iblis…MU HA HA HAAA**

** Hasta la Vista, Readers!**

** Lordoftheghostking28**


	7. Chapter 7

** XxXxXxXx**

** I'm baaaaack! Bonus Chapter! YEY! **

** Ok, this takes place after the entire game of Sonic 06. And because Shadow is immortal he is in this. Yey. He trains Silver to use his powers more effectively and stuff happens. So read on! Thanks to KillingKathy, this chapter is here!**

** XxXxXxXx**

I was so lost.

My family…Soul…Blaze…everyone I ever knew and loved were gone. What did I have left? Nothing. Even the newly restored world didn't bring any cheer. The sky was as bright as it had been when I had seen Cobalt in my dream; the grass as green. But there was still nothing I wanted more than to just let this all end.

I startled myself by staring down at my hands and finding a Chaos Emerald. This thing had enough power to kill me. I wasn't even aware of it until now. This could bring my life to an end.

"I know what you're thinking,"

I jumped backwards, falling over a small rock. I landed hard on my back, the wind knocked out of my lungs. The Emerald fell into a small patch of flowers. My gaze fixed on the dark hedgehog standing in front of me.

Shadow.

"What do you care? You wouldn't know what it's like; losing everyone important to you." I hissed, getting back to my feet.

He scoffed, fire burning in his eyes momentarily. I could sense I had struck a nerve. I saw a brief flash of a girl…

"I know better than most people." Shadow growled. "You're the only one that could possibly rival my loss. But I see potential in you. Blaze wouldn't have wanted you to kill yourself over her death."

He drew out a blue Emerald from behind his back. "I'm going to train you to use your powers in the most productive way. Once you've mastered them you can continue to make this world a better place."

He could help make my powers stronger? More controlled? I thought I had them completely under control. Or…at least to my liking. I was fine where I was, and something told me Shadow was a very experienced fighter.

"I wouldn't refuse if I was you." His red eyes burned into mine.

I held eye contact for a total of two second before I turned and ran as fast as my legs could carry me. Before long, something slammed into my back and pinned me to the ground, the pressure moving to the middle of my back in a sharp pain. I figured he was driving his knee into my shoulder blades. He grabbed my arm and bent it the wrong way, ripping a small cry from me.

"Rule one," Shadow hissed into my ear. "never turn your back on an opponent."

He sprang backwards, letting me scramble to my feet. I faced him and willed him to rise into the air. He did so, flailing around until I dropped him heavily into the ground. Just that small move made me feel drained.

"How's that?" I demanded.

Shadow didn't answer. He was lying limply, motionlessly. I ran to his side, shouting his name loudly. I didn't kill him, did I?

"Shadow!" I shouted, shaking his shoulder harder than necessary. He still didn't move.

In a blink of an eye, he sprang to his feet and delivered a hard blow to my ribcage. I doubled up, curling into a ball and trying to get oxygen back into my lunge for the third time in less than five minuets.

"Rule two," Shadow spat. "never underestimate your opponent."

I struggled to my feet, anger beginning to bloom in my heart. I wanted—_needed_—to prove that I could outfight him. I lifted a nearby rock as big as my head and threw it at him.

Shadow simply held out his fist riddled with Chaos energy to stop it. The rock broke cleanly into two parts and he leapt into the air and hit both halves at me. I narrowly dodged the first, but the second I caught with my powers and sent back at him.

He wasn't expecting it. The rock hit him squarely in his chest, making him stumble backwards. "Not bad," He admitted. "already learning. Just keep in mind that your opponents won't give you time to recover or allow themselves time to it either."

I nodded, ready for him to spring up. Sure enough, he did just what I planned and I was able to leap into the air above his head and slam my foot into his back, driving him to the ground. I planted one knee firmly in-between his shoulder blades and twisted his arm back behind his back. "This is a taste of your own medicine, isn't it?" I smirked.

"Impressive." He admitted. "I know not to go easy on you anymore."

_ What_?

Before I could react, I was thrown backwards and he was rushing at me again, Chaos Spears forming in his open hand. My only instinct was to escape. I began running, eventually just taking to the air. But my fear was canceling out my power and I ended up landing heavily and rolling a short distance. A Spear struck dangerously close to my hand and side.

It took all of my strength to continue to dodge the attacks. But I could feel myself growing tired…eventually a Spear found home in my stomach and the word went dark.

** XxXxXxXx**

"Silver!"

My eyes opened instantly and I sprang up. All around me, all I could see was darkness. But I could still sense Shadow was nearby. I had been out for hours. I realized how thirsty and hungry I had become.

"Shadow, can we get something to eat?" I asked.

"If you can land a hit on me in the dark. I'm going to mask my presence with Chaos power. You must learn to operate without your trusted powers if the impossible happens. I figured the darkness would be adequate to your near blindness." His voice came from the left…but I was sure I was sensing him to the right.

Then he completely vanished. Everything grew quiet.

"Shadow?" I asked nervously, reaching out. I felt so helpless again…I was suddenly scared. I whirled around at every sound, trying desperately to find something to either use as a weapon or guarantee my escape.

Something hit me on the side of my head. I stumbled to the side before something else struck me in my side. I fell forward, curled in to a ball to minimize the pain. Another hit to my back.

"Your enemy won't leave you alone because of how pitiful you are." Shadow hissed. I grabbed forward towards his voice, but my fists closed on air and something slammed into my temple, making the darkened world around me flash white.

"Show your opponent you will never give in! Attack out as fiercely as you can! Give them no reason to harm you!" His voice came from above.

I found myself standing, fury burning inside of me. I focused on trying to locate the Chaos power disguising Shadow. I picked up on a small trace to my left and I lashed out with my leg, connecting solidly with Shadow's kneecap.

Something was dropped in front of me. Upon picking it up, I realized it was a small bag filled with a tiny loaf of bread and a canteen of water. I hurriedly stuffed the bread in my mouth and drained the water in no time flat.

"That's it for tonight." Shadow's voice said. I could detect him again as he put down the shielding of Chaos power. "You definitely won't be destroyed by the simplest opponent. Although it's amazing you stood up to Iblis and Mephiles with your weak will."

I decided to let that last comment go. I was tired again. I began making my way back to my makeshift house in one of the cities, which was basically just an overturned dumpster with a few blankets scattered under it. At least it kept the rain out.

After a few minuets, I came to the alley and entered my small home. I fell asleep immeadentally, dreaming of becoming stronger.

** XxXxXxXx**

The next day was long, hard and painful. I was awakened by Shadow flipping over my home and throwing it aside as though it weighed nothing. "Get up," He commanded.

I did so, partly because I was scared to see what he would do if I didn't. He walked over to a side of the alley and threw me a sharpened stick. Oh man…

"Hand-to-hand combat. Have you ever fought like this?" He asked.

"No," I admitted.

"Then you're about to." He retrieved another sharpened stick, this one a few inches shorter than mine. He backed up a few feet from me, turning his body sideways to make himself a smaller target. He held the stick firmly in his right hand, waiting for me to make the first move.

I got awkwardly in the position he was in and stepped forward, thrusting my stick at his ribcage. He hit my weapon aside in one smooth blow and stabbed viciously at me. I stumbled backwards, tripping over my own feet. I landed hard on my back and Shadow thrust the stick under my chin, keeping me from moving or risk getting cut or splintered.

"If I didn't know you were trying, I would laugh." Shadow hissed.

I used my powers to send him flying backwards, buying me some time to recover. I sprang up and rushed at him. I would give it my all.

** XxXxXxXx**

The next week was extremely long, frustrating and most of the time, painful. But I learned a great deal. Every time Shadow lunged unexpectedly at me, I was ready to dodge to the side and counter with my power. His attacks on me grew more aggressive, more dangerous. But so did I. My power eventually rivaled his own.

"You're finally showing some improvement." Shadow admitted after a particular vicious bout of hand-to-hand combat. "I almost am tempted to not pick a fight with you anymore."

He sat down and stared up at the blue sky above. It was wonderful that it was no longer dark, except at night or when it rained. I loved the rain…

"So where did you come from?" I asked.

Shadow's gaze was lowered to the ground. "I'd rather not talk about it,"

"Want to know about where I got my powers?" I asked again. "I'll tell you if you tell me where you're from. That's all I want to know, not anything long."

"Go for it." Shadow said. "I have time."

It took a few seconds to get through the beginning of my life; how I was nearly blind for so many years, how my family died and how Blaze rescued me. The part about Soul and the scientists came easily, probably because it was still so fresh in my mind. I still had nightmares about the floating lab, all of them ending in either Soul dying or the professor driving the life out of me with one of his cruel machines. By the time I was done with my story, Shadow's eyes were shut and he had an emotionless expression on his face.

"At least you weren't in a lab your entire life." He finally said. "I was originally an experiment; a weapon. The professor was kind to me…and his granddaughter…we became close friends. But then one day the government found out about my existence and they sent troops to destroy me. They shot Maria…I watched her die in front of me before she granted me freedom. Later I found out the professor went insane and eventually was killed. The government soldiers found me…"

Shadow trailed off for a few seconds before continuing on. "...they found me and locked me away in a type of suspended animation for fifty years. That only prolonged my misery.…But because of the professor, I am immortal. Cursed forever to live with this pain of losing everyone I ever knew and loved."

I was shocked. Shadow and I had a lot more in common than I thought we did. And yet…we were so different. He would never die, while I would.

"I haven't told anyone about my past for over a hundred years." Shadow was watching a small red bug make its way up a blade of grass.

I just sort of nodded.

He stood. "Well, congratulations, Silver. I've trained you to the best of my ability. There is nothing more I can teach you."

"Well, maybe I can teach you something." I offered.

"Like what?"

"Try using the Chaos power to talk to Maria. I can use my power without the Emerald. I saw my sister a few times…and my family. Soul too."

He gave a grim smile. "I'll have to try it. I haven't talked to her in over five hundred years."

** XxXxXxXx**

** Oh boy, weird ending.**

** So yeah! This is the exciting conclusion of The Flames of Time! HOORAH!**

** Thank you, KillingKathy! **

** And all you awesome people out there who read this story! Many of you told me this is my best one yet… 0_0 **_**really**_**? I thought it was sorta depressing… but then again…I'm good at depressing…**

** Ah, anyway, review, please!**

** No Flames! Flame me and I revive Iblis and send him after you!**

** Hasta la Vista, Readers!**

** Lordoftheghostking28**


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